William Penn Cruises Courtesy of Hot Second Half
Cedar Rapids–The Statesmen women’s basketball team took a while to shake off the bitter winter cold, but when it finally did, it pulled away for a comfortable 78-53 Heart of America Athletic Conference win over Mount Mercy Monday.
WPU (13-4, 9-3 Heart), which defeated #8 Central Methodist on the road in its last contest, did not look like the same team early on as it was limited to 28 first-half points. Fortunately, the visitors caught fire and shot 60.0% after intermission to defeat the Mustangs (4-13, 1-11 Heart) for the seventh time in a row.
The opening period witnessed one tie and four lead changes as Mount Mercy made 58.3% of its shots for a 15-14 advantage. The host’s margin grew to as big as seven at 21-14 and was still at six (26-20) before the Statesmen rattled off eight in a row to own a 28-26 edge at halftime.
The Mustangs connected on a three-pointer to start the latter half, but Kate Ylitalo (Sr., Maple Plain, Minn., Biology) answered right back with a trifecta of her own and William Penn never trailed again. The senior finished 5-for-11 from deep and paced the victors with 23 points.
Ylitalo’s three-pointer lit the fuse for an explosion of 14 unanswered points. William Penn led by double digits the remainder of the night, outscoring the home squad 25-11 in the third and 25-16 in the fourth. At the final buzzer, the Statesmen outshot the Mustangs 47.5%-40.7% and outrebounded them 40-29.
WPU was also a bit better in regards to ball control with 14 turnovers, compared to 17 mistakes by Mount Mercy. The Statesmen outscored MMU 14-4 at the free-throw line as well, going 14-for-18 through 40 minutes of action (MMU was 4-for-9).
Ylitalo was one of three players in double figures. Bailey Reardon (Fr., River Falls, Wis., Elementary Education) had the most efficient outing of any player on the floor, going 8-for-10 for 19 points. Olivia Usher (Sr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Mathematics) completed the double-digit trio with 10 points.
Brenda Pennington (Sr., Hammond, Ind., Psychology) managed a complete effort with nine points, seven assists (just one turnover), and a team-best six rebounds.
Haley Mullinnix (Jr., West Branch, Iowa, Sports Management) added five points Monday as well.
“We did not have a great start, but came out strong in the second half and played a lot better,” Head Coach Steve Williamson said. “We need to come ready to play for 40 minutes if we expect to compete in this conference.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Wednesday to host MidAmerica Nazarene in Heart action at 5:30 p.m.
