WPU Rallies Past Wildcats with Outstanding Fourth Quarter

Canton, Mo.–The Statesmen women’s basketball team showed up when it mattered most to stave off an upset in a 68-57 Heart of America Athletic Conference victory over Culver-Stockton Friday.

William Penn (10-5, 10-4 Heart) led for most of the afternoon, but needed a 21-10 advantage in the final 10 minutes of action to pull away from the winless Wildcats (0-8, 0-6 Heart).

The visitors were severely depleted at the point guard position with Breanna Wendland (Jr., Richfield, Minn., Undecided) out of the lineup due to injury. The squad went just three deep into its bench, but that trio stepped up big, especially Morgan Terry (Jr., Cornersville, Tenn., Biology) who hit double figures with a near-perfect outing.

The contest started slowly with Brittany West (Sr., Shakopee, Minn., Sports Management) finally scoring the first points over two minutes in. The senior was instrumental early as she tallied 11 of her 15 points (all three of her three-pointers) in the opening stanza to help WPU to a 16-12 lead.

William Penn tallied the first two points of the second period as well, but then cooled off, hitting just 31.3% of its first-half attempts, but still led 28-26 at intermission.

In a game that featured six ties and 18 lead changes, Culver-Stockton went on an 11-4 run to begin the third quarter. The Statesmen rallied, though, as Lakyla Moore (Jr., Norfolk, Neb., Business Management) caught fire. The junior was limited to only five first-half points, but found her zone and connected on three-straight trifectas to keep the visiting team in it. Moore finished with a game-high 16 points. She was just 4-for-11 from the field, but was 4-for-9 behind the arc and 4-for-6 at the free-throw line.

Down 48-46 entering the fourth and 50-46 after a quick pair of C-SC free throws, the navy and gold turned their fortunes around. Terry sunk a pair of charity-stripe attempts and Caroline Hoppock (Jr., Olathe, Kan., Biology) drained a three-pointer to give the Statesmen the lead for good. West and Terry then added scores and suddenly with 6:21 remaining, William Penn turned a four-point deficit into a five-point advantage with a 9-0 run.

Madisyn Rogan (So., Stevens Point, Wis., Applied Mathematics) connected on a long ball three minutes later and the Statesmen rolled to an easy win down the stretch, scoring on 10 of 11 possessions at one point (10 of 13 trips overall in the fourth quarter). Of WPU’s 16 bench points, 12 came in the decisive fourth stanza.

William Penn’s terrific fourth quarter lifted it to a 37.7%-36.5% final edge in shooting, including going 44.8% in the second half. The Statesmen did much more damage from the perimeter, going 11-for-28 (39.3%), compared to just 4-for-15 (26.7%) for C-SC.

Rogan matched West with three trifectas en route to 13 points, while Terry for 4-for-4 from the field (3-for-4 FT) for 11 points. Terry also assisted on four made shots.

West just missed a double-double, corralling nine rebounds, while the navy and gold were bettered on the glass, 39-35. The squad was stronger on the offensive boards, however, at 16-14, which led to a commanding 19-9 mark in second-chance points.

Both sides were solid in ball control with William Penn committing three fewer turnovers (10-13). Defensively, Bailey Reardon (So., River Falls, Wis., Elementary Education) and Zantasia White (Jr., Lubbock, Texas, Secondary Education) stole two passes each, while West blocked a pair of shots. Reardon was held to just three field-goal attempts as she scored seven points in the victory. Hoppock contributed five points as well.

WPU overcame a subpar effort at the free-throw line, going 10-for-17 (58.8%), while Culver-Stockton was 16-for-24 at the stripe.

“Not having Bre in the lineup was significant, but somehow we overcame that,” Head Coach Steve Williamson said. “It was not pretty, but we will take any road win we can get.”

Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Wednesday to host #8 Clarke in Heart action at 5:30 p.m.

Posted by on Jan 23 2021. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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