William Penn Basketball January 24
William Penn Women's Athletics
Thomas, Host of Others Keep Penn in Thick of Playoff Race
Forest City–While their leader had an off night, others stepped up to the challenge to pace the Penn women’s basketball team to another Midwest Collegiate Conference victory, this time a 70-62 decision over Waldorf Monday.
The win is the seventh in a row for the Lady Statesmen (17-6, 8-1 MCC) and sets up one of the biggest regular season games in program history as #11 St. Ambrose, also 8-1 in the MCC, comes to Oskaloosa Thursday night for a 5:30 tip-off.
Penn is looking to not only claim sole possession of first place in the MCC, but also avenge its 61-50 loss to the Queen Bees on January 2.
The visitors burst out to a sizeable lead early Monday night, going up by as much as 14 at 18-4 just 6:07 into the game, but Waldorf (3-16, 1-7 MCC) was not about to be stampeded on its home court.
The Warriors regrouped and scored 16 of the next 20 points to pull within two at 22-20 less than ten minutes later. Penn extended the advantage to double digits again, but settled for a 36-27 edge at intermission.
Considering the records of both teams entering Monday night’s contest, the Lady Statesmen were figured to blow it all open after halftime adjustments, but similar to last month’s 75-69 Penn win in Oskaloosa, it was once again a dogfight.
The Lady Statesmen led by eight twice in the second half, including holding a 57-49 margin with 4:45 remaining. The Warriors quickly trimmed that deficit, though, with an 11-1 run to take their only lead at 60-58 at the 3:08 mark.
Penn had the final laugh, however, and responded with eight unanswered to cruise to the win.
Highlighted by a 15-of-18 second-half showing at the free-throw line (22-of-26 overall), the Lady Statesmen were able to steal the game at the stripe. In contrast, Waldorf was just 6-of-8.
Orielle Thomas (Fr., Waynesville, Mo., Waynesville HS) and Rachel Butler (Sr., Orange County, Calif., Cerritos CC) each recorded double-doubles in a win that came despite the visitors being outshot 41.4%-36.1%.
Thomas finished with game highs in points (17) and rebounds (11) for her third such performance this year, while Butler scored 12 points with ten rebounds for her fourth double-double.
Samantha Darley (Sr., Gilbert, Ariz., Mesa CC) notched 16 points, including going 4-of-7 from behind the arc, accounting for all of Penn’s three-pointers. Kim Thompson (Fr., Park Forest, Ill., Upper Iowa) added ten points off the bench.
Christa Subbert (Sr., Stanton, Stanton HS) connected on just 2-of-11 shots, but made 5-of-6 from the charity stripe for nine points.
The Lady Statesmen owned a 43-33 edge in rebounding, good for an 8-2 edge in second-chance points. The defense also pressured the Warriors into 22 turnovers (19 for Penn), resulting in 22 points.
Butler stole three passes in the win, while Sarah Martin (So., Anthem, Ariz., Boulder Creek HS) posted a squad-high three assists.
“This was a good team effort,” Lady Statesmen Head Coach Brian Spielbauer said. “We had a lot of players contribute and it was good to see us get a road win with Christa having a bit of a tough night.”
“We want to invite everyone out to pack the gym Thursday night against St. Ambrose!” Spielbauer added. “Two of the best teams in the league will be facing off. It should be a great game and we would love to have an edge with some great home-court advantage!”
Second Stanza Lifts Statesmen to 75-58 Win Over Waldorf
William Penn University Athletics
Forest City–No daring scheme was needed to get Penn in the winner’s circle this time around as the Statesmen cagers pulled away from Waldorf Monday for a 75-58 win in Midwest Collegiate Conference action.
Just two days after playing only six men in the second half of a win against then league-leading Ashford, Penn (11-10, 3-5 MCC) used a good old team effort to sweep the season series from the Warriors (won 84-61 last month).
The first half was an offensive struggle for both programs with Penn entering the break up just 24-20.
The score continued to be close for the first part of the second half. Waldorf (7-12, 2-6 MCC) actually snuck within three at 50-47 at the 9:16 mark before the Statesmen reeled off seven in a row and stayed comfortably in control the remainder of the evening.
Penn shot 59.4% (19-of-32) in the second period and eventually won the battle 50.9%-32.2%. It is the first time this season that the team has shot over 50.0% in consecutive games (52.4% versus Ashford).
The visiting crew outrebounded the Warriors 38-35 and forced 17 turnovers (13 for Penn), which led to a 17-6 margin in points off mistakes.
Four players surpassed the double-double plateau, led by Brandon Beasley (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind., Columbus State CC) and his game-high 15 points (4-of-7 FG, 7-of-14 FT). The junior recorded his first double-double of the campaign, also netting a contest-best ten rebounds.
The rest of the Statesmen unfortunately also struggled from the charity stripe as Penn was just 16-of-30, but its misses were still not as costly as Waldorf having just 13 tries (12-of-13).
Blake Walker (Fr., Smyrna, Ga., Campbell HS) tallied 14 points, while Huzie Hambrite (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind., Ball State) and Ryan Wilson (Sr., Ballwin, Mo., Missouri-Kansas City) added ten points apiece. Walker and Wilson helped Penn from the bench as the Statesmen non-starters outscored Waldorf’s bench 30-10.
Alan Douglas (Jr., Champaign, Ill., Lakeland CC) managed eight points and nine rebounds, while Wiebe Goodyk (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa Central CC) finished with seven and Deon Bergeron (Sr., Lake Charles, La., Grand Lake HS) contributed six points.
Hambrite dished out six assists to lead all players and Beasley had a squad-high two steals and two blocks.
Next: Penn returns to Oskaloosa Thursday to host St. Ambrose in MCC play at 7:30 p.m.
