Strong Start Not Enough for WPU Vs. Spartans
Des Moines–The Statesmen women’s basketball team once again gave its opponent a fight, but could not hang the entire 40 minutes in a 68-57 loss to Missouri Baptist Saturday at the Grand View Classic.
William Penn (0-4), which was outshot 44.2%-37.0%, actually led the Spartans (1-3) at halftime 37-36, but was limited to just 20 points after the break.
In addition to the overall shooting deficit, the navy and gold also came up a bit short at the free-throw line, shooting 9-for-13, while MBU stole a few more points at 12-for-14. WPU’s 17 turnovers were also converted into 21 points for the Spartans; the Statesmen managed just 16 points off of 16 MBU mistakes.
Missouri Baptist opened the afternoon with the first five points, but William Penn rallied to knot the contest at 9-9. The Spartans then responded with five in a row again and led 25-20 after the first 10 minutes of action. The opening period was dominated by Zantasia White (Jr., Lubbock, Texas, Secondary Education), with 11 points on three three-pointers, and Amanee Clark (So., Waterloo, Iowa, Human Services), with eight points.
Alexis True (Jr., Frankfort, Ky., Exercise Science) began the second quarter with a trifecta, while Morgan Terry (Jr., Cornersville, Tenn., Biology) contributed the next six points for the Statesmen (eight for the period), who eventually claimed their third and final lead on a late three-pointer by Ally Stewart (Jr., Victoria, Australia).
A pair of Terry free throws in their first possession of the third stanza pushed the navy and gold advantage to three, but eight unanswered put WPU in the hole for good. The sides combined for just 21 points in the quarter.
The final 10 minutes were a back-and-forth affair with WPU pulling within three at 58-55 on a Terry bucket with 4:55 still remaining. Unfortunately, MBU closed strong with six straight to hold off the Statesmen down the stretch.
Terry was 6-for-11 from the field (4-for-5 FT) to guide her team with 16 points. The junior also blocked four shots and stole three balls in the setback.
Clark was also 6-for-11 overall to post 13 points, while White narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Stewart matched White with a trio of long balls as part of an 11-point effort. True dished out a team-high four assists as well.
“Tonight we saw a great piece of the puzzle we are building,” Head Coach Jenna Santi said. “We came up short, but we can fix the minor mistakes. The ladies played their hearts out and that is all I can ask for.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Hillsboro, Kan. next Friday to face Tabor in the Tabor Classic at 6 p.m.
