William Penn Forces 34 Turnovers in 83-65 Defeat of Central
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Oskaloosa–The Lady Statesmen basketball team pulled away from Central in the second half for an 83-65 non-conference win Thursday night.
William Penn (5-4) was outshot 47.9%-42.3% and lost the rebounding battle 45-27, but forced 34 turnovers while committing just 13 mistakes. Those Dutch mistakes were converted into 32 WPU points, while the 13 navy and gold errors netted only 13 points for Central (3-2).
The hosts led for much of the first half, eventually holding a 39-34 halftime edge. The advantage disappeared in the early minutes of the second stanza, however, as Central claimed their final lead at 43-42 with 16:24 left. Morgan Evans (Sr., Creston, Iowa, Industrial Technology) fortunately gave her team the edge for good only 20 seconds later, initiating a 15-3 run.
The margin shrunk to six points inside the five-minute mark, but William Penn sprinted to the finish line with 18 of the final 24 points.
Katie Golomski (So., Milwaukee, Wis., Psychology) led the Lady Statesmen with 20 points, including six of her team’s eight three-pointers. She also had a team-high five assists in addition to three steals and a block.
Janay Pritchett (So., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Biology) added 19 points, while Orielle Thomas (Sr., Waynesville, Mo., Physical Education) contributed a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds. Her four steals were also a team high.
Evans tallied eight points and Sam Abens (Jr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) and Sarah Martin (Sr., Anthem, Ariz., Physical Education) both finished with seven points.
“I thought Central was really good tonight and ready to go,” Head Coach Mike Brown said. “Even in their zone, they were physical. Fortunately, I think our better athletes ended up being the difference tonight.”
“Sam and Janay did a good job of getting into the seams in the second half and we took advantage of Katie getting hot,” Brown added. “We did a good job of pressuring the ball and forcing a higher tempo than they wanted. We had some really good spurts and that helped us get by. Playing three games last week and three more this week has not given us a chance to fix things in practice. We are hoping to get through just one more game before getting ourselves back on track.”
Next: William Penn travels to Hannibal, Mo. Friday to face Hannibal-LaGrange at 5 p.m.
