Statesmen Earn Revenge Win at Graceland

Lamoni, Iowa — The Statesmen women's basketball team defeated the Graceland Yellowjackets in a revenge game after the Yellowjackets beat William Penn in overtime Jan. 14 in Oskaloosa.

William Penn earned the victory despite being outshot 35.7% to 32.8% and outrebounded 41-34 by Graceland. William Penn made up the difference by forcing 10 turnovers while committing just four.

The Statesmen opened the scoring with a layup by Dekota Smith (Jr., Toledo, Ohio, Computer Science) off an offensive rebound by Kayla Peoples (Sr., Waco, Texas, Nursing).

Smith went on to lead the squad in scoring with 16 points while also grabbing seven rebounds.

William Penn used the momentum to push out to an 8-2 lead halfway through the first quarter when Peoples found Meghanne Freehill (Jr., Lewiston, Ill., Sports Management) for a 3-pointer.

Freehill led the bench in scoring with 10 points while also pulling down five rebounds.

The squads battled through the rest of the quarter until the break, with the navy and gold leading 17-9.

Graceland struck back in the second quarter and cut the Statesmen lead to 17-14 with 5:19 left in the first half.

Peoples got back on the board for William Penn with a jumper to halt the run.

Peoples went on to record a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead the team.

This spurred a scoring burst from the senior, as she scored six points in 1:33 to extend the lead to 23-17.

The Yellowjackets worked back to cut the lead to 25-23 at halftime.

Graceland made a free throw to open the scoring in the second half before hitting a jumper to take its first lead of the day at 26-25.

The run allowed the lead to balloon to 37-27 with 3:48 left in the third quarter.

Aliya Wagamon (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Psychology) made a layup to halt the run.

After a trip to the line and another basket by Peoples, William Penn trimmed the deficit to five.

The Statesmen continued to chip away and cut the deficit to two by the end of the quarter, trailing 41-39.

Peoples opened the final stanza with a layup to tie the game at 41-41.

Graceland responded with a 3-pointer before Reagan Pavesi (Jr., Austin, Texas, Wellness and Recreation) answered with a layup to keep the Statesmen within striking distance.

Pavesi scored eight points in the contest and also finished with five rebounds.

The Yellowjackets pushed out to a 47-43 lead before Pavesi hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one.

After another Graceland 3-pointer, Kayla Jones (Sr., Louisville, Ky., Psychology) found Laney Parker (Jr., Springfield, Ill., Business Management) for a 3-pointer to tie the game once again.

Parker finished with five points, while Jones led the navy and gold with two assists.

Smith scored five points on two layups and a free throw to put the Statesmen back in the driver's seat with a 54-51 lead and 2:32 remaining.

Pavesi sealed the victory with a free throw with four seconds left.

"Great conference road win. There were a lot of ups and downs in this game, but our girls kept fighting." Head Coach Sheawn Bedford Jr. said, "Kayla Peoples and Dekota Smith made big time plays all night. Reagan and Meghanne gave us great minutes off the bench. I'm really proud of our entire program."

Next Up: William Penn returns home on Saturday to host the Park Pirates in conference play at 2 p.m.