William Penn Crushes Waldorf 83-53 in Season Opener
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Forest City–Behind a 20-point showing from Janay Pritchett (Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Biology & Sociology), the Statesmen women’s basketball team opened its 2013-2014 season with an 83-53 road victory over Waldorf in non-conference play Tuesday.
William Penn (1-0) shot just 40.6% from the field, but an impressive defensive presence limited the Warriors (0-1) to shoot only 26.1%.
In a matchup that featured 58 fouls (32 against WPU), the visitors fell behind four early. Down 11-9 seven minutes into play, the Statesmen found their offensive groove by scoring 13 unanswered and never trailed again.
William Penn, which was up 43-29 at the break, put the game out of reach with a 20-4 run at the start of the second half. The navy and gold pulled ahead by as much as 34 points late, before settling for the 30-point victory.
Pritchett finished 6-of-11 from the field and 8-of-10 at the line. She also led her squad with four assists.
Katie Golomski (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis., Psychology & Sociology) joined her teammate in double figures with 11 points, including a team-best two three-pointers.
Jessie Kreuser (Jr., Mendota Heights, Minn., Undecided) just missed double figures with nine points, while Vanessa Kieres (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) paced the non-starters with eight points.
Dani Stahle (Sr., South Weber, Utah, History/Government & Psychology) added seven points in limited action (12 minutes) due to foul trouble. Brittany May (Sr., Gladstone, Ore., Biology) matched Stahle with seven points, while Susan Smith (Sr., Eugene, Ore., Biology) contributed six points in the win.
William Penn edge Waldorf 57-52 on the glass and forced the hosts into 20 turnovers (WPU had 16 mistakes). Kreuser topped the rebounding efforts with nine caroms, while Golomski and Lauren McKinnis (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Sociology) stole three passes each.
Both teams had 36 free-throw attempts, but it was the Statesmen who really took advantage by converting 27 tries for a 75.0% clip.
“It took a while to adjust to the calls being made,” Head Coach Mike Brown said. “At times, the amount of calls slowed our ability to get out and run.”
“Fortunately, we played more soundly on defense in the second half and that really helped us take off,” Brown added. “Janay paced us, but we had a lot of people contribute. Some of our kids were limited in playing time because of foul trouble, but players like Vanessa and Makenzie Ficek (Sr., Eugene, Ore., Sociology) were great off the bench. It was great to have Susan back as well.”
Next: The Statesmen play their home opener Friday by hosting Missouri Valley in non-conference action at 7:30 p.m.
