William Penn Dropped by League-Leading Pride
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen women’s basketball team could not slow down a Clarke squad that is rolling right now as it fell 84-62 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Wednesday.
WPU (10-6, 10-5 Heart) had its three-game winning streak snapped, while the #8-ranked Pride (14-1, 10-1 Heart) walked off victorious for the 13th-straight time.
Nothing came easy for the hosts as they fell into a 12-0 hole midway through the first quarter. Brittany West (Sr., Shakopee, Minn., Sports Management) finally got the team on the board with a three-point play, but the Statesmen could not get any closer than seven points at 15-8.
Behind 22-8 after the opening stanza, William Penn warmed up, but the visitors stayed hot. The deficit grew to 27 late in the period before WPU trimmed it to 20 at halftime, 47-27. At that juncture, the Statesmen were hitting just 29.0% of their field-goal attempts, while Clarke was at 54.3%.
All hope of a miraculous comeback was dashed after intermission as CU went on a 22-4 run. William Penn did, however play much better down the stretch, outscoring the Pride 22-13 in the fourth.
The Statesmen, who were outshot 47.1%-40.0%, were actually better from behind the arc. The navy and gold were 42.9% on 6-for-14 shooting, while Clarke owned a 34.3% clip, but did so by making 12 of its 35 deep balls.
The home crew was outrebounded 43-28 and committed three more turnovers (17-14) than its foe.
West finished 7-for-13 from the field for a game-high 18 points (also had two blocks), while Lakyla Moore (Jr., Norfolk, Neb., Business Management) also reached double figures with 12 points. The junior tallied three steals Wednesday as well.
Caroline Hoppock (Jr., Olathe, Kan., Biology) was just shy of the double-digit mark with nine points, while Hailey Rupnow (Fr., Neenah, Wis., Undecided) had a strong outing off the bench with seven points. The freshman was 3-for-3 from the field (1-for-1 3-PT), dished out four assists, and stole two passes.
Zantasia White (Lubbock, Texas, Secondary Education) contributed five points as well. Bailey Reardon (So., River Falls, Wis., Elementary Education) was limited to four points, but guided the Statesmen on the glass with five rebounds.
Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Saturday to host Evangel in Heart action at noon.
