Short-Handed Statesmen Beat Wildcats

Baldwin City, Kan.--Mercer Roberts (Sr., Myrtle Beach, S.C., Wellness and Recreation) produced a big double-double and the William Penn women's basketball team did just enough to get past Baker 58-54 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Saturday.

WPU (3-8, 2-5 Heart) was outshot 36.4%-35.7%, but held a 43-35 rebounding edge to collect the road victory.

Both squads committed 19 turnovers, but the visitors did a better job taking advantage of BU's errors with a 23-13 advantage in points off mistakes.

The contest featured three early lead changes before the navy and gold went on top for a long run, including lead 14-10 after the first period.

The Wildcats (1-11, 1-7 Heart) battled back, recapturing the advantage before the teams entered intermission tied at 26-26.

Down 35-31 midway through the third stanza, the Statesmen answered, including a three-pointer by Roberts.  The senior then added a pair of free throws that gave William Penn the edge for good at 38-37 with 2:50 to go in the period.

The advantage grew to six after three stanzas and then to a game-high 10 points (49-39) early in the fourth, but unfortunately BU rallied with eight straight points.  However, a three-pointer by Aiesha Feagins (Jr., Grand Prairie, Texas, Applied Mathematics) at the 2:52 mark gave the navy and gold some breathing room.

William Penn allowed the hosts to cut the margin to two points once more, but another Feagins bucket, coupled by several defensive stops, helped the visitors take home the win.

Roberts, who played the entire 40 minutes, was 8-for-17 (2-for-4 3-PT) and 8-for-10 at the free-throw line en route to 26 points.  She also pulled down 13 rebounds for a double-double, while also recording two assists, two steals, and one block.

Alyssa Hames (Jr., Ackley, Iowa, Psychology) posted a double-double as well with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  She was 4-for-4 at the charity stripe, but overall the navy and gold had to overcome a 14-for-24 (58.3%) effort.  To the contrary, Baker stayed in the game by going 10-for-13 at the line.

Outside of two minutes, Feagins was the only player to come off the bench, scoring seven points for William Penn.

Faith Putz (Jr., Urbandale, Iowa, Business Management) and Aliyah Myers (Sr., Wichita, Kan., Business Management) added five points each.  Myers stuffed the stat sheet with seven rebounds and seven assists as well, while Putz stole four balls Saturday.

"I am as proud of our group today as I can ever remember for any win," Head Coach Joe McKinstry said.  "We dressed eight players, but really only had seven available to play.  We received huge double-doubles by Mercer Roberts and Alyssa Hames, as well as great defensive performances by Aliyah Myers and Faith Putz.  Shareece Smith and Aiesha Feagins also did a phenomenal job picking up for an injured Ally Stewart.  This is our farthest conference game of the year and we had lot of things stacked against us, so I am super proud of our ladies finding a way to come away with a win."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Des Moines next Wednesday to face Grand View in Heart play at 5:30 p.m.