William Penn Falls Short of Another Upset
William Penn University Athletics
Baldwin City, Kan.–Once the Statesmen women’s basketball team got rolling Saturday afternoon, it looked poised for yet another big win in Heart of America Athletic Conference play, but #13 Baker refused to be a gracious host as William Penn fell 75-67.
WPU (3-3, 2-1 Heart), which had its three-game losing streak snapped, overcame a 14-point deficit early in the second half. Unfortunately, the navy and gold could not come all the way back in dropping its first league contest.
The Statesmen, who were outshot 41.8%-39.6%, were slow out of the gate, trailing 20-10 following 10 minutes of action. The second quarter was much better, but the Wildcats (4-1, 2-1 Heart) were still able to tack on two more points to the margin to go up 41-29 at intermission.
The sides exchanged buckets to open the third period and then the Statesmen slowly nipped at the margin, only trailing 56-52 entering the last quarter. WPU eventually caught BU at 60-60 with 7:31 still on the clock, but all that effort was nullified by eight unanswered points from the home team. The Statesmen, who hit a sharp 60.9% of their shots after halftime, were unable to get any closer than five points the rest of the way.
William Penn proved to again be pesky on defense by forcing 17 turnovers (only 15 for WPU), converting that into a 14-10 edge in points off turnovers. Unfortunately, the game was decided on the glass as Baker was considerably better (44-32), including a hefty 18-8 mark on the offensive end. The Wildcats did not waste those extra chances, outscoring the Statesmen 21-2 in second-chance points.
Alyssa Phillips (Sr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) had a well-balanced showing with a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds; the senior also blocked two shots.
Vashti Nwagbaraocha (So., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) showed some rarely seen range in posting 15 points. She was just 2-for-6 from the field, but both made shots were from behind the arc. Nwagbaraocha also finished 9-for-12 at the line, while her team followed suit by going 21-for-27 overall (77.8%).
Keshunda Williams (Fr., Chicago, Ill., Business Management) guided the bench effort with 13 points and three assists, while fellow non-starter Asia Roper (Sr., Aurora, Colo., Psychology) added eight points. ShaVonn Watkins (Sr., Peoria, Ill., Physical Education) contributed five points Saturday.
“This was a hard-fought battle today and unfortunately we came up short,” Head Coach Willie Scott said. “I am proud of our team’s effort. Although we got off to a slow start, we continued to fight. We gave up too many open three-pointers and have to do a better job rebounding the ball. Baker is too good to make those mistakes.”
“Baker celebrated as if it was a championship game, which I take as a good sign that William Penn women’s basketball is earning respect in the league,” Scott added.
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Tuesday to host Grand View in Heart action at 5:30 p.m.
