William Penn Enters Holiday Above .500 with 65-52 Win
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Milwaukee, Wis.–The Lady Statesmen basketball team managed a split at the La Quinta Stritch Classic with a 65-52 victory over Finlandia (Mich.) Tuesday.
William Penn (7-6) was outshot 36.0%-32.5%, but forced Finlandia (3-6) into 32 turnovers, good for 27 navy and gold points.
The Lady Statesmen took the lead for good at 10-9 and went up by as much as 16 late in the contest.
Three players reached double figures, led by Megan Evangelista (Jr., Chanhassen, Minn., Biology) with 17 points. Morgan Evans (Sr., Creston, Iowa, Industrial Technology) and Taylor Reed (Sr., Kalamazoo, Mich., Communication) also met the mark with 13 points apiece. Reed, who recorded a double-double with ten rebounds, also paced her team with five steals as WPU notched 19 overall.
Sarah Martin (Sr., Anthem, Ariz., Physical Education) finished with eight points, while Sam Abens (Jr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) and Vanessa Kieres (So., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) contributed six points. Abens also dished out a team-best seven assists.
Evangelista and Evans both secured nine rebounds as the Lady Statesmen owned a 47-43 rebounding edge. The team’s 21-8 margin on the offensive end resulted in a 14-4 advantage in second-chance scoring.
Evangelista and Reed were both named to the all-tournament team for their efforts.
“This is a great way to end our pre-holiday schedule,” Head Coach Mike Brown said. “Megan and Morgan were both big tonight, helping us in many ways. Taylor and Sam were solid again tonight. We are looking to get healed up over the break and put our full squad to the test in league play.”
Next: William Penn returns from action on December 29, hosting St. Scholastica (Minn.) at 1 p.m.
