William Penn Athletics News January 5
William Penn's Christie Menard in action against Iowa Wesleyan January 5, 2011
Penn Women Upset #12 Iowa Wesleyan 73-72
Oskaloosa–In one of the biggest regular-season wins in program history, the Lady Statesmen cagers upset #12 Iowa Wesleyan 73-72 in Midwest Collegiate Conference play Wednesday.
Penn (11-6, 3-1 MCC) knocked off the defending league champions and national quarterfinalists in a matchup of two highly-ranked programs (Penn is 26th in the latest NAIA poll).
The home team played great from start to finish as neither team could pull ahead by more than a half dozen points. Iowa Wesleyan led 34-32 at the break.
As it did in the first half (first five points), Penn came out strong and notched the opening seven points of the second half to lead 39-34. That advantage extended to six just a few minutes later, but the Tigers (11-4, 2-1 MCC) responded with 12 unanswered to take a 52-46 lead with 10:11 remaining.
The Lady Statesmen did not buckle, though, bouncing back with six straight and the final minutes were played with neither team posting a lead larger than three points.
Iowa Wesleyan were up by three at 71-68 with only 41 ticks left, but Penn cut into that at the :28 mark with a bucket by Christa Subbert (Sr., Stanton, Stanton HS), two of her team-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
Unfortunately, the senior was forced to commit her fifth and final foul on the Tigers’ Jill Ginder on the ensuing possession. Ginder made one of two shots, pushing the lead to 72-70 with 15 seconds left.
The second shot was missed and Christie Menard (Sr., Rancho Cucamunga, Calif., Chaffey CC) was fouled trying to collect the rebound.
On the other end of the floor, Menard made her first attempt, but missed the second. Orielle Thomas (Fr., Waynesville, Mo., Waynesville HS) stepped in to keep her team alive, however, by getting the rebound. Menard eventually ended up with the ball and scored the go-ahead basket with ten seconds left.
Iowa Wesleyan quickly pushed the ball down the court and managed to get an open look under the rim, but Jessi Beachey’s lay-up rolled off the rim and Randi Olson (Jr., Federal Way, Skyline CC) collected the rebound as time expired.
Penn won the shooting battled 47.5%-45.1% (55.2% in second half), but nearly lost the game with a 20-9 disadvantage in free throws made.
With 13 points, Samantha Darley (Sr., Gilbert, Ariz., Mesa CC) led a trio of Lady Statesmen who joined Subbert in double figures. Thomas and Menard both scored 12 points in the win, while Thomas topped all players with nine rebounds.
Rachel Butler (Sr., Orange County, Calif., Cerritos CC) added seven points on the night.
One of the more important stats of the night, Penn owned a 37-27 edge in rebounding, leading to a 22-10 mark in second-chance points.
Darley dished out five assists and Thomas had two steals. Sarah Martin (So., Anthem, Ariz., Boulder Creek HS) blocked two Tiger shots.
“This was a great game,” Lady Statesmen Head Coach Brian Spielbauer said. “Both teams played really well and this was a great team effort for us. We are excited about the win and look forward to hopefully improving this weekend in a road game against Viterbo.”
Next: Penn travels to La Crosse, Wis. Saturday to face Viterbo in MCC play at 1 p.m.
Rebounding Struggles Doom Penn Men in 91-86 Loss to #21 Tigers
William Penn's Blake Walker shoots for 2 over Iowa Wesleyan January 5, 2011
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen basketball team had six players in double figures, but it was not enough to lift the home team to victory in a 91-86 loss to #21 Iowa Wesleyan in Midwest Collegiate Conference action Wednesday.
The rested Statesmen (9-7, 1-2 MCC), who were playing for the first time in 28 days, matched the Tigers (11-1, 3-0 MCC) from the field at 44.9% (both were 35-of-78), but gave up 30 second-chance points. Iowa Wesleyan outrebounded Penn 51-44.
Penn trailed just 39-38 at halftime and stayed within ten points the entire game. Iowa Wesleyan was able to go up by double digits one final time at 79-69 with 5:13 left, but the Statesmen slowly clawed back into the contest.
Courtesy of six straight in just over one minute, the home squad faced a one-point deficit at 87-86 with 28 seconds left.
Consecutive Tiger free throws pushed the advantage to three with 23 seconds remaining and Penn took a timeout to set up its offense for a potential game-tying three-pointer.
Brandon Beasley (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind., Columbus State CC) was given the opportunity to be the hero in his Statesmen debut, but despite a strong 12-point, seven-rebound showing, the junior could not get his top-of-the-key attempt to fall. The visitors nabbed the rebound and iced the win with two more free throws.
Although solid from inside the arc, Penn had issues from three-point land (5-of-24) and at the charity stripe as well (11-of-22).
Alan Douglas (Jr., Champaign, Ill., Lakeland CC) headlined the stat sheet with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting. He also paced the Statesmen with eight rebounds.
Huzie Hambrite (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind., Ball State) and Wiebe Goodyk (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa Central CC) added 13 points, while Blake Walker (Fr., Smyrna, Ga., Campbell HS) had 11 and Ryan Wilson (Sr., Ballwin, Mo., Missouri-Kansas City) added ten.
Hambrite topped all participants in assists (10) and steals (4) as well, while Walker blocked three shots. It is the first time this season that a Penn player has reached double digits in assists.
“With about six minutes left, Iowa Wesleyan’s offensive rebounding really took over and won the game for them,” Statesmen Head Coach John Henry said. “We looked tired and beat and they looked like they wanted to win more. That is embarrassing and hopefully that feeling will push us to work harder in the future.”
Next: Penn travels to La Crosse, Wis. Saturday to face Viterbo in MCC play at 3 p.m.
Wade Steinlage
