Statesmen Defeated in Sterling

Sterling, Kansas – The William Penn women's basketball team fell for its second game in a row, this time to the Sterling Warriors 69-59 in non-conference play Wednesday.

The Statesmen (4-2) outshot the Warriors (2-2) by a slim 36.4%-35.8% margin but only mustered 44% on free throws, going 12-27, while the Warriors shot 78.9% on 15-19 opportunities from the line.

The first six minutes of the contest was a tightly contested affair as William Penn trailed 6-5, but the rest of the first quarter was all Sterling as it pushed to a 15-6 lead by the end of the first stanza.

William Penn struggled to hit its mark in the second quarter while the Warriors pushed ahead until Cortlynn Jackson (Jr., Des Moines, Iowa, Sports Management) hit a three-pointer to cut the Warriors lead to 22-9 with 7:05 left in the half.

The rest of the second quarter was back and forth until half-time as the home team led 31-18 into the break.

The second half a similar story as Sterling extended its lead, using a 43-33 edge in rebounds to achieve a 16-7 margin in second-chance points.

Both squads struggled with turnover as William Penn had 23 and the Warriors had 21. Sterling managed a 17-16 advantage in points off turnovers.

Dekota Smith (Jr., Toledo, Ohio, Computer Science) and Breacia Carter (Jr., South Beloit, Ill., General Accounting) paced their team with 13 points apiece. Kayla Peoples (Sr., Waco, Texas, Secondary Education) contributed nine with seven rebounds. Taylor Lawhorne (Sr., Amityville, N.Y., Business Management) had eight points while Cortlynn Jackson scored six.  

Neva'eh Diaz-Doolin (Fr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Biology) led the Statesmen in rebounds with eight.

Leading the way for William Penn in assists was Kayla Jones (Sr., Louisville, Ky., Psychology) with three.

"We couldn't find our rhythm offensively in the first half," Head Coach Sheawn Bedford Jr. said. "Our execution was a lot better in the second half. Proud of how we battled all night. Unfortunately, against a good team you can't start the game slow. We will learn from this"

Next Up: The Statesmen travel to Atchinson, Kansas on Saturday to take on Benedictine as it opens Heart play at 5 p.m.