WPU Cold from Floor in Road Loss to Peru State

Peru, Neb.--The Statesmen women's basketball team was doomed by a big run in the third quarter as it fell 59-48 to Peru State in a Heart of America Athletic Conference matchup Wednesday.

WPU (7-9, 4-6 Heart) was outshot 44.6%-36.0% by the Bobcats (6-10, 2-8 Heart), but won the free-throw battle 66.7%-36.4% (8-4 advantage) in a game that witnessed just 21 combined fouls.

Points were hard to come by for both teams in the early going, but Ally Stewart (Sr., Victoria, Australia, Physical Education) broke the scoreless deadlock at the 6:39 mark. Despite the early edge the rest of the quarter was back-and-forth, as the visitors trailed 15-11 after the first quarter.

William Penn quickly tied the game back up at 15-15 early in the second period before the home team went on to extend the lead back to seven. The rest of the quarter saw both teams struggling to make a basket.  With under a minute left in the half, Joslyn Herbeck (Jr., Fond du Lac, Wis., Sports Management) nailed a three-pointer as the Statesmen went into the break trailing 23-20.

The home team quickly expanded upon its advantage with a 15-0 run to start the third stanza as the navy and gold could not get the lid off the basket. The scoring for WPU finally came around with help from Morgan Terry (Sr., Cornersville, Tenn., Biology) as she scored 10 of the 15 Statesmen points, but WPU trailed 49-35 heading into the final quarter.

Aiesha Feagins (Jr., Grand Prairie, Texas, Applied Mathematics) drilled a trifecta to open the final quarter, while Terry followed with back-to-back baskets to cut the deficit to seven. Unfortunately, Peru State eventually found its footing and shut the door on the Statesmen comeback.

Terry topped WPU with 16 along with four rebounds, while Journie Augmon (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev., Human Services) was next with 10 points and four boards.

Zantasia White (Sr., Lubbock, Texas, Secondary Education) finished with seven points and five rebounds, and Stewart tallied four points and five rebounds in the setback.

Along with losing the shooting battle, the Statesmen were outrebounded on the boards 37-30.  Both squads committed 11 turnovers.

Next Up: William Penn will return to Oskaloosa Saturday to take on Evangel in a Heart contest at 12 p.m.