William Penn Succumbs to Crusaders
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen women’s basketball team will welcome a break from action after falling 94-61 to Evangel in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Saturday.
WPU (10-7, 10-6 Heart), which will not play again for nine days, will look to get healthy both physically and mentally for the final push of the season. The squad has been decimated by injuries this year and was playing Saturday’s contest without leading scorer Lakyla Moore (Jr., Norfolk, Neb., Business Management).
The day opened with Senior Day festivities as the squad’s lone senior Brittany West (Sr., Shakopee, Minn., Sports Management) was recognized. Unfortunately, that proved to be one of the few bright spots for the navy and gold.
William Penn and Evangel (10-7, 8-6) exchanged buckets to start the game, but the the visitors continued on their torrid pace, while the hosts quickly fell off. Before the home team knew what had happened, the Crusaders had scored on nearly all of their early possessions and were off to a 27-6 start.
The Statesmen were able to slow down their foes for a bit to trim the deficit to 16 after one quarter (30-14) and get within 14 midway through the second period. The feeling that a possible comeback was in the works was quickly squelched, though, as EU went on a 9-0 run to close the half and hold a 52-26 advantage.
The latter half was just a formality and WPU went on to drop its second game after posting a three-game winning streak; the Statesmen had won six of their previous seven outings prior to the current losing streak.
William Penn was outshot 55.0%-44.0%, including a 54.5%-25.0% margin from the perimeter. The team also came up short in rebounding (30-27), while committing 11 more turnovers (16-5). Both sides were strong at the free-throw line with Evangel holding a 94.1%-75.0% edge.
With Moore out of commission, Breanna Wendland (Jr., Richfield, Minn., Undecided) stepped up on the offensive end with 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting. The junior narrowly missed a double-double as she pulled down nine rebounds as well.
West was next with 13 points (three three-pointers), while Morgan Terry (Jr., Cornersville, Tenn., Biology) headlined the bench scoring with 11 points. Terry also recorded a team-high three assists.
Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa for the rest of the regular season, beginning with a Monday, February 8 Heart matchup with Culver-Stockton at 5:30 p.m.
