WPU Fails to Claim Season Sweep of Mount Mercy

Cedar Rapids--The Statesmen women's basketball team found scoring to be elusive Saturday as it fell 66-41 to Mount Mercy in a Heart of America Athletic Conference matchup.

WPU (8-14, 5-11 Heart) was outshot 40.0%-25.8% by the Mustangs (9-13, 5-11 Heart), including a 35.5%-13.6% deficit from behind the arc.  The visitors, who defeated MMU earlier in the month, were also outrebounded 51-29.

Points were hard to come by for both teams in the early going with Aiesha Feagins (Jr., Grand Prairie, Texas, Applied Mathematics) finally breaking the scoreless deadlock at the 6:52 mark.  That was unfortunately not enough to get the navy and gold going, as the home team went on a 10-3 run to end the first quarter up 13-6.

Behind a great individual performance by Journie Augmon (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev., Human Services), the Statesmen improved their play in the second period.  The senior scored all 10 of her team's points, but the navy and gold were outscored 14-10 in the quarter and trailed 27-16 at the break.

Both crews then turned up the offensive intensity after halftime, matching each other step for step to the tune of an even 16-16 score for the third quarter.  Emma Morts (Sr., Milford, Ill., Business Management) opened the Statesmen scoring with three consecutive buckets, while Amanee Clark (Jr., Waterloo, Iowa, Human Services) followed her with a three-pointer.

Unfortunately, the Statesmen could not make up any ground and still faced an 11-point deficit entering the final stanza.  WPU needed a huge late-game performance, but the Mustangs refused to accommodate and instead dominated the waning minutes to secure the victory.

One of the lone bright spots for William Penn came in the turnover battle as it committed just 10, compared to 18 for MMU.  Both crews also shot well from the free-throw line; WPU was 6-for-8, while the Mustangs were 11-for-12.

Augmon topped the navy and gold with 13 points, while Morts was next with nine points and seven rebounds.  Elle Turner (Fr., Camdenton, Mo. Business Management) tallied five points and two steals off the bench.

Next Up: William Penn will return to Oskaloosa next Wednesday to face off against Peru State in Heart action at 5:30 p.m.