WPU Misses Opportunity for Season Sweep of Ravens

Atchison, Kan.--The Statesmen women's basketball team was doomed by a big fourth quarter as it fell 61-51 to Benedictine in a Heart of America Athletic Conference matchup Saturday.

WPU (9-17, 6-14 Heart) was outshot 43.8%-38.8% by the Ravens (9-17, 6-14 Heart) and was outrebounded 36-22.

Points were hard to come by for the navy and gold early in the contest as they went down 10-3 halfway through the first quarter. Aiesha Feagins (Jr., Grand Prairie, Texas, Applied Mathematics) then brought an end to the scoreless drought with a three-pointer, followed by an Ally Stewart (Sr., Victoria, Australia, Physical Education) trifecta to cut into the deficit.

The home team was able to respond, however, getting out to a 23-9 lead, but long balls from Zantasia White (Sr., Lubbock, Texas, Secondary Education) and Feagins got the Statesmen back on track.  Overall, the visitors were 9-for-21 from behind the arc (42.1%).

The high-scoring first period ended with William Penn trailing 26-21.

Both teams slowed considerably in the second quarter, but Morgan Terry (Sr., Cornersville, Tenn., Biology) was solid by scoring five of the seven Statesmen points in the quarter as William Penn trailed 35-28 at intermission.

The home team went on an 11-0 run after the break, before a three-pointer by White and back-to-back baskets from Feagins got the Statesmen within eight points. Stewart got in on the action as well with two three-pointers as the navy gold trailed by only three points at 47-44 going into the final quarter.

Journie Augmon (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev., Human Services), who pulled down a team-high six rebounds, was a bright spot for the navy and gold in the fourth quarter, scoring four baskets in a row to keep the Statemen in the game. It was not enough, though, as the home team provided an answer to every score before closing out the game from the free-throw line.

BC was strong at the charity stripe at 13-for-14 (92.9%), while the navy and gold were limited to a 4-for-6 effort (66.7%).

Four WPU players finished in double figures with Stewart and Feagins topping the squad with 11 each, followed by Augmon and Terry with 10 points apiece.  William Penn had just five scorers Saturday with White contributing nine points as well.

The turnover battle was close with the Statesmen committing one more mistake (18-17).

Next Up: William Penn remains on the road next Wednesday, traveling to Baldwin City, Kan. to take on Baker in Heart action at 5:30 p.m.