William Penn Claims Season Sweep of Mount Mercy

Oskaloosa–The Statesmen women’s basketball team played much better in its second matchup with Mount Mercy, defeating the Mustangs 81-54 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Thursday.

The win, which is WPU’s seventh in its last eight games after starting 0-3, moves the program to 7-4 overall and 7-3 in the Heart. The Statesmen will now enjoy a lengthy break as it looks to get healthy for the back half of the league slate. William Penn returns to action on Wednesday, January 6 when it travels to Baldwin City, Kan. to take on Baker at 5:30 p.m.

Seven days ago, WPU was held to 34.0% from the field in a 57-51 victory over the Mustangs (1-6, 1-6 Heart) in Cedar Rapids. The navy and gold took advantage of home cooking Thursday, posting a season-best 59.2% clip, while limiting MMU to 32.2% overall.

Brittany West (Sr., Shakopee, Minn., Sports Management) was on fire to start the contest, making her first five shots, including four from behind the arc, to account for William Penn’s first 14 points. Breanna Wendland (Jr., Richfield, Minn., Undecided) and Morgan Terry (Jr., Cornersville, Tenn., Biology) then stepped up with four points apiece to conclude the opening quarter as WPU led 24-16 after 10 minutes of play.

Bailey Reardon (So., River Falls, Wis., Elementary Education) scored her first bucket with 7:28 left until halftime to push the Statesmen advantage to double figures, a place it would stay the remainder of the evening.

Ahead 41-28 at intermission, the gap grew to 21 as William Penn tallied the first eight points of the second half. Unfortunately, the Mustangs returned the favor and trimmed the deficit to 12 midway through the third quarter.

WPU refused to make the contest any more interesting, however, recording a 10-5 run to close out the period. The victors then put the game away with six unanswered to open up the fourth.

West, who was 6-for-10 from three-point land (9-for-16 overall), finished with a game-high 24 points. Both teams connected on eight three-pointers with WPU holding a 38.1%-28.6% edge.

Wendland was even more efficient than her teammate as she went 6-for-8 for 18 points. Caroline Hoppock (Jr., Olathe, Kan., Biology) topped the Statesmen bench with 12 points, and Lakyla Moore (Jr., Norfolk, Neb., Business Management) also hit double digits with 11.

Terry was perfect (2-for-2 FG, 2-for-2 FT) en route to six points, while Reardon and Zantasia White (Lubbock, Texas, Secondary Education) contributed five each in the victory.

William Penn was slightly better in overall rebounding at 32-31, but the Mustangs were dominant on the offensive glass with a 13-4 advantage. Fortunately, the Statesmen limited MMU’s second-chance scoring edge to just 7-6.

The hosts committed five fewer turnovers (15-20) and managed to convert several of Mount Mercy’s mistakes, eventually outscoring MMU 20-8 in points off turnovers. WPU was more aggressive in the interior as well with a 42-18 edge in points in the paint. That led to many more trips to the free-throw line as the Statesmen were 15-for-22, while MMU was just 8-for-10.

Both Reardon and Wendland dished out four assists, while Terry and White produced two steals each.

“I really enjoyed watching our group play tonight,” Head Coach Steve Williamson said. “They exhibited a lot of energy and determination all night. Brittany got off to a great start and showed a lot of senior leadership. Lakyla did a good job getting to the rim, and Breanna was a stud for us. The team fed off her energy.”

“This was a great way to end the first half of the season,” Williamson added. “Now we just need to get healed up and prepare for a very tough schedule coming up.”

Posted by on Dec 18 2020. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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