William Penn Falls on Senior Day

William Penn University Athletics

William Penn University Athletics

Oskaloosa–The Statesmen women’s basketball team was better than its foe in the second half, but could not mount enough of a comeback on Senior Day in a 78-61 Heart of America Athletic Conference loss to Baker (Kan.) Saturday.

The loss drops William Penn (13-16, 10-12 Heart) into the #7 seed for next week’s Heart Tournament. The navy and gold will now have to compete in Tuesday’s play-in game, hosting #10 Peru State in Oskaloosa at 7 p.m. The Statesmen swept the Bobcats during the regular, 63-43 on December 5 and 78-51 on January 30. #2 seed MidAmerica Nazarene awaits the winner in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

The Wildcats (22-7, 16-6 Heart) made it clear they were not about to influenced into giving one away for the Statesmen seniors, blowing out to a 22-10 lead after the first quarter. Baker added seven more points to their advantage to lead 36-17 at halftime.

Down 24 in the third stanza, the hosts gave the home crowd something to cheer about with nine straight points, but they failed to get any closer. WPU did outscore BU 44-42 after intermission, but a 53.7%-30.3% shooting deficit helped the visitors to an easy victory.

Alyssa Phillips (Jr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) did her best to help William Penn claw back in as she went off for a double-double of 27 points and 10 rebounds; her 27 points were one shy of a career high and are the most by a WPU player this season. The junior had three steals as well.

Kadejah Young (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Physical Education) joined her in double figures with 15 points and six assists, while Asia Roper (Jr., Aurora, Colo., Psychology) connected on two of her squad’s three three-pointers en route to eight points.

The Statesmen were six rebounds shy on the glass (40-34), but 21 offensive boards turned into a 15-6 edge in second-chance points. They were also better at ball control with 15 turnovers, compared to turning the Wildcats over 23 times; WPU bested BU 22-14 in points off mistakes.

An 18-for-24 effort at the charity stripe (Phillips was 9-for-12) was also a big positive for the home team.

“It is tough losing your last regular season game, especially at home on Senior Day,” Head Coach Willie Scott said. “I am proud of our team, though, for the way they fought all season to prove we were not the 11th-best team in the league as was predicted in the preseason poll.”

Posted by on Feb 28 2016. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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