William Penn Athletics News January 27
Number 25 Christa Subbert goes for yet 2 more points against St. Ambrose on January 27
Lady Statesmen in First Place After Pulling Past #11 St. Ambrose
Oskaloosa–In front of a raucous home crowd, the Penn women’s basketball team won the biggest regular season game for the program in a long time by dropping #11 nationally-ranked St. Ambrose 67-53 in Midwest Collegiate Conference action Thursday.
The Lady Statesmen (18-6, 9-1 MCC) have won eight in a row (first time since 1988-1989), but none were sweeter than tonight’s as it puts the squad in first place, one game ahead of the Queen Bees (18-4, 8-2 MCC) and 1 1/2 games in front of Iowa Wesleyan (7-2 MCC).
It is also the second win over a ranked league foe this year with Penn also knocking off then #12 Iowa Wesleyan on January 5.
St. Ambrose played like the #11 team in the nation early, pulling out to a 17-10 lead and eventually going up by as much as nine at 33-24 with 3:10 left until halftime. Penn battled back, though, and scored six unanswered to trail just 33-30 at the break.
Although the home team bettered their shooting in the second half (up 3.3% to 44.4%), it was a spirited defensive effort that keyed the victory as the Queen Bees made just 5-of-26 shots following intermission for a 19.2% clip.
Down four at 44-40 with 13:55 remaining, Penn went on a 10-0 run and never trailed again. Four straight by St. Ambrose cut it back to 50-48 in favor of the Lady Statesmen, but the next streak belonged to the hosts with six in a row and Penn cruised to victory.
The Lady Statesmen owned a 42.9%-27.4% margin from the floor and held Ali Dolphin, SAU’s top scorer, to just 19 points, including a meager six in the second 20 minutes.
Four players reached double figures for Penn, including 14 from Christa Subbert (Sr., Stanton, Stanton HS). She struggled from deep (0-for-6), but made up for that by hitting all four of her free throws as well as tallying team highs in assists (4) and blocks (3).
Kim Thompson (Fr., Park Forest, Ill., Upper Iowa) recorded her first double-double of the year with season highs in points (12) and rebounds (12).
Orielle Thomas (Fr., Waynesville, Mo., Waynesville HS), with 11 points, and Rachel Butler (Sr., Orange County, Calif., Cerritos CC), with ten points, also met the mark.
Samantha Darley (Sr., Gilbert, Ariz., Mesa CC) added eight points off the bench, including a pair of big three-pointers in the second half.
Penn had one fewer turnover, 14-15, leading to a 17-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
“This was a great, great win for us,” Lady Statesmen Head Coach Brian Spielbauer said. “It was a very balanced win. We did a great job in the second half to slow down their best players.”
“It was great to beat the #11 team in the nation in front of such a huge crowd and now be in first in the league,” Spielbauer added. “We are thrilled with the win, but now we have to keep it going Saturday at Mount Mercy.”
Next: Penn travels to Cedar Rapids Saturday to face Mount Mercy in MCC play at 1 p.m.
Men Falter Late in 77-74 Loss to St. Ambrose
William Penn's Alan Douglas drives to the hoop against St. Ambrose January 27
Oskaloosa–Late struggles led to a frustrating 77-74 setback for the Penn men’s basketball against St. Ambrose in Midwest Collegiate Conference play Thursday.
The Statesmen (11-11, 3-6 MCC) were ahead 70-61 with 6:15 left, but the Fighting Bees (17-5, 6-3 MCC) battled back and outscored the home team 16-4 to close out the night.
Penn, who was down 42-35 at half, continued to trail until finally taking the lead 52-50 with 14:31 left.
The lead ballooned to that nine-point advantage with over six minutes, but the home team could not hold off a St. Ambrose squad that made a total of 14 three-pointers (14-of-30).
Behind by just two with seven seconds left, SAU’s Justin Tiner made just one of two free throws to put the Fighting Bees up three and left the door open for Penn to possibly force overtime.
Unfortunately, the squad failed to take advantage as Huzie Hambrite (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind., Ball State) missed a two-point basket (foot on the line) as time expired. Penn will get a chance for redemption just three days from now as the teams face off again in Davenport in a rescheduled contest.
The Statesmen were able to stay in the contest with a huge 43-26 advantage on the board, resulting in a 16-4 advantage in second-chance points.
Alan Douglas (Jr., Champaign, Ill., Lakeland CC) was a major reason Penn rallied for the lead as he scored a team-high 21 points, including going 9-of-12 from the line. The Statesmen were 11-of-19 at the charity stripe overall, but could not get the ball in the bucket late, missing their final six attempts.
Huzie Hambrite (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind., Ball State) added 14 in the loss, while Wiebe Goodyk (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa Central CC) also hit double figures with ten. Hambrite managed teams highs in assists (4) and steals (2) as well.
Blake Walker (Fr., Smyrna, Ga., Campbell HS) tallied eight points, while Nick Coffey (Sr., Hinsdale, Ill., Hinsdale Central HS) posted seven points. Brandon Beasley (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind., Columbus State CC) and Deon Bergeron (Sr., Lake Charles, La., Grand Lake HS) each finished with six points.
Penn was outshot 50.0%-45.2%. Both teams did well controlling the ball with the Statesmen having just 12 turnovers, while St. Ambrose committed nine.
“It is very frustrating to blow this lead tonight, but this is a mirror image of most of our losses in the league,” Statesmen Head Coach John Henry said. “Our playmakers are not making the shots we need them to make. We had some questionable shot selection in the final minutes which did not help.”
“St. Ambrose just wanted to win and we wanted to look good first and win second and we need to change that way of thinking,” Henry added. “St. Ambrose put on a clinic on how to win down the stretch.”
Next: Penn travels to Cedar Rapids Saturday to face Mount Mercy in MCC play at 3 p.m.
Steele Picks Up Second Academic Honor of Season
Oskaloosa–Steve Steele (Jr., Freeland, Mich., Nouvel Catholic HS) is not only one of the best football student-athletes on the William Penn campus but also sits high among the entire Mid-States Football Association as its all-academic team was released today.
Steele owns a 3.93 Grade Point Average in natural science and biology. He ranked third on this year’s list. It is Steele’s second academic all-MSFA honor of his career. He was also a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete for the 2010 season.
A total of 105 players garnered the academic recognition throughout the Association as Cory Anderson of Taylor (Ind.) owned the top grades for the second year in a row with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
To be eligible to be on the team, athletes must be of at least junior academic standing, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or above on a 4.0 scale, and must be a varsity starter or key reserve player.
Statesmen Fall 34-7 to #4 Missouri Valley
Marshall, Mo.–The Penn wrestling team competed hard but unfortunately could not pull a big upset in falling 34-7 to #4 nationally-ranked Missouri Valley in dual-meet action Wednesday.
The meet started without a match at 125 pounds and when action began, the Vikings claimed wins at 133 and 141 pounds to jump out to a 10-0 lead.
Eric Burgey (Fr., Easton, Pa., Easton HS) finally got the Statesmen on the board with a 10-2 major decision win over Shay Shive at 149 pounds to cut the deficit to 10-4.
Penn (1-4) forfeited at 157 pounds prior to its other win as 165-pounder Brandon Blanchard (Fr., St. Louis, Mo., Eureka HS) defeated Tyler Lankford 12-6.
184-pounder Chris Diaz (Jr., Montrose, Colo., Olathe HS) gave his opponent, #6 ranked Jesse Alter, a good fight as well, but eventually fell 6-3.
Next: Penn travels to Des Moines Saturday to compete in the Grand View Open. Action begins at 9 a.m.
