William Penn Comes Up Short to Host Coyotes in Finale of KWU Classic

Salina, Kan.--The Statesmen women's basketball team left the Jayhawk State empty-handed as it fell 71-45 to host Kansas Wesleyan in the finale of the Coyote Classic Saturday.

WPU (1-2) could not find its shooting touch, being outshot 47.5%-25.8% by KWU, a team that qualified for the NAIA National Championship a year ago.

Three-pointers by Kayla Peoples (Sr., Waco, Texas, Secondary Education) and Kayla Jones (Sr., Louisville, Ky., Psychology) helped the visitors to early advantages, including being up 6-4, against the Coyotes (1-1).  Unfortunately, the home squad scored five in a row and never trailed again.

Down 24-13 after 10 minutes on the hardwood, the navy and gold were able to slow KWU down, limiting their foes to just 15 points in the second stanza, but they failed to narrow the gap and headed into the locker room facing a 39-23 deficit.

The latter half was much of the same as Kansas Wesleyan extended its margin, using a 43-36 edge in rebounds to achieve a 14-5 margin in second-chance points.

WPU took nine more free throws (20-11) than the home crew, but finished just 9-for-20 at the charity stripe.

Both sides committed 11 turnovers with the Statesmen being outscored 8-2 in points off mistakes.

Peoples paced her team with 12 points, while Jones also reached double digits with 10.  Neva'eh Diaz-Doolin (Fr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Biology) contributed eight points, and Reagan Pavesi (Jr., Austin, Texas, Wellness and Recreation) ended her outing with five in addition to a squad-best seven rebounds.

Meghanne Freehill (Jr., Lewiston, Ill., Sports Management) also dished out two assists in the setback.

"Missed opportunities on offense hurt us today," Head Coach Sheawn Bedford Jr. said.  "I thought we competed hard against a team that went to the national tournament last year, but we have a lot to work on before our home opener on Tuesday."

Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Tuesday to face College of Saint Mary (Neb.) in non-conference action at 5:30 p.m.