WPU Knocks Off Vikings on the Road
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Des Moines–The Statesmen women’s basketball team has held sizeable advantages over Midwest Collegiate Conference foes in the previous games this year, but Wednesday the squad finished a full 40 minutes in an 83-80 victory over Grand View Wednesday.
William Penn (9-12, 2-4 MCC) took a 15-13 edge at the 12:19 mark of the first half and held that advantage well into the second stanza. Up 11 points twice, the visitors went into the break ahead 44-40. At that juncture, the navy and gold were outshooting the Vikings 50.0%-45.2%.
Grand View (9-9, 3-3 MCC), which bettered WPU 47.1%-40.9% after intermission, rallied to recapture the edge at 58-57 with 10:39 left in regulation. The hosts held a lead over the next few minutes, but Janay Pritchett (Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Biology & Sociology) took over in the final minutes, recording a layup and two free throws in consecutive trips to give WPU the lead for good at 73-72 with 2:05 remaining.
Pritchett went 7-for-8 at the line down the stretch, helping her to finish with a game-high 25 points. The junior was 6-for-12 from the field and 13-for-16 at the charity stripe. She also dished out four assists.
Pritchett’s free-throw proficiency was a big part of William Penn holding a huge edge in free tries, ending the night at 28-for-39. Grand View, on the other hand, was just 12-for-24 at the line.
It was not an all-Pritchett night, though, as Jessie Kreuser (Jr., Mendota Heights, Minn., Undecided) was equally impactful with a near double-double of 22 points and nine rebounds. The fellow junior hit eight of her 13 field-goal attempts. Both players did much of their damage in the second period with Pritchett scoring 15 and Kreuser adding 13 following intermission.
William Penn managed a slight 46.3%-46.2% shooting edge in a win that featured both sides recording 34 rebounds. Dani Stahle (Sr., South Weber, Utah, History/Government & Psychology) was not a factor on the offensive end with just four points, but was dominant on the boards with a game-high 11 boards. She matched Pritchett with four assists as well.
Susan Smith (Sr., Eugene, Ore., Biology) also got to double figures with 14 points, while Katie Golomski (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis., Psychology & Sociology) had six points. Each individual knocked down two three-pointers.
The Statesmen committed three fewer turnovers, 13-16, but had to overcome a 21-15 deficit in points scored off mistakes.
“This was a huge team win with a lot of contributions,” Head Coach Mike Brown said. “Makenzie Ficek’s minutes in the first half were huge when we were in a lull. Janay and Jessie were awesome all night, and Susan had tremendous energy all night long as well.”
“We really just competed possession to possession at a higher level tonight,” Brown added. “This was a great win on the road.”
Next: William Penn travels to Davenport Saturday to face #17 St. Ambrose in MCC action at 1 p.m.
