WPU Routs Ravens for Outright Crown, Auto Bid to Nationals
The William Penn Women’s Basketball Team sealed an outright conference championship and birth to the national championship tournament with their win over Benedictine on Saturday afternoon.
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen women’s basketball team fully enjoyed its Senior Day by defeating Benedictine 88-45 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action to collect the outright regular-season crown.
#14 William Penn (27-2, 22-2 Heart) entered as a virtual lock for nationals, but guaranteed its spot in the field by thrashing a Ravens squad decimated by illness and other factors. The Statesmen, who have won a season-best 10 games in a row and have the seventh-most wins in a season in program history, earned the first of the league’s two automatic berths. They have qualified for nationals for the third year in a row, but will be seeking their first postseason victory since 1988.
WPU will now wait to find out the identity of its Heart Tournament Quarterfinal opponent. The Statesmen will meet the winner of Monday’s play-in game between #8 seed Baker and #9 Missouri Valley on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Oskaloosa.
The Statesmen connected on a blistering 57.6% of their field-goal attempts, while limiting BC (18-12, 13-11 Heart) to just 28.8% from the floor. The hosts also shot 57.1% from three-point land, while the visitors ended up a paltry 20.7%.
The first three points of the afternoon belonged to the Ravens, who worked with only a seven-person crew. WPU, which put all 15 team members into the contest, answered with 10 in a row and never looked back. It was 27-8 after the first quarter and 44-19 by halftime. As the squad’s perimeter game strengthened after intermission, so did its advantage grow, getting as large as 44 points in the final seconds of the event.
A total of 12 Statesmen got into the scoring column with Kate Ylitalo (Jr., Maple Plain, Minn., Biology) posting a game-best 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting. She made six trifectas, while her team swished 16 overall in the victory. The junior also pulled down eight rebounds to lead WPU; William Penn owned a 47-26 mark on the glass.
Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Sr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) was next with 13 points, while Brenda Pennington (Jr., Hammond, Ind., Psychology) and Jenny Hugins (Sr., Pueblo, Colo., Communications) both also reached double digits with 10 points apiece.
Shamiah Oliver (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Education) finished with nine points, while Sham Troupe (Sr., St. Louis, Mo., Software Engineering) tallied seven points and Cassidy Turner (Fr., Kansas City, Mo., Exercise Science) added six more.
Oliver and Jenna Santi (Sr., Oak Creek, Wis., Sports Management) each assisted on four buckets and Nwagbaraocha blocked two shots.
“I am extremely happy with our effort and determination today,” Head Coach Steve Williamson said. “This was a great way to finish out the regular season. We now look forward to the conference tournament.”
