Clarke Edges Statesmen in Tight Heart Battle

Dubuque--The Statesmen women's basketball team could not hold on to a late lead as it fell to Clarke 69-67 in a Heart of America Athletic Conference loss Saturday.

William Penn (7-18, 4-13 Heart) shot 35.4% from the field, while Clarke (14-11, 10-7) shot 39.0%. The teams each pulled down 41 rebounds, and the Statesmen forced 11 turnovers while committing nine.

The navy and gold struck quickly when Neva'eh Diaz-Doolin (Fr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Biology) made a layup to open the scoring a minute into the contest.

Diaz-Doolin went on to score 13 points while also grabbing five rebounds.

Clarke worked to take a 9-8 lead halfway through the first quarter. The Pride extended its lead to 18-11 by the end of the stanza.

William Penn slowly gained ground on Clarke to trail only 21-20 with five minutes left in the half.

The squads went back and forth until Diaz-Doolin made a layup with under a minute left in the first half to give William Penn a 29-28 lead at halftime.

Both squads came out of the break fighting, tying the game at 31-31. William Penn outpaced the Pride for the next six minutes to take a 45-40 lead with 4:12 left in the third quarter.

The Pride went on a run until

Dekota Smith (Jr., Toledo, Ohio, Computer Science) hit a 3-pointer to give the Statesmen a 51-47 lead going into the final quarter.

 Smith had 12 points and dished out a team-high four assists.

Clarke scored five points over the first 2½ minutes of the fourth quarter to take a 52-51 lead before Laney Parker (Jr., Springfield, Ill., Business Management) made a shot from beyond the arc to put William Penn back in front.

Parker led the Statesmen with 17 points, all from beyond the arc, as she went 5-for-8 from 3-point range.

The teams worked to a 59-59 tie before William Penn went on a run to lead 66-60.

The Pride came back to trail 66-65 with one minute left to play.

Kayla Jones (Sr., Louisville, Ky., Psychology) came up with a steal with 22 seconds left to send William Penn to the free-throw line. Jones tied Breacia Carter (Jr., South Beloit, Ill., General Accounting) for the team lead with seven rebounds.

Meghanne Freehill (Jr., Lewiston, Ill., Sports Management) made a free throw to put William Penn up 67-65. Clarke hit a pair of free throws to tie the contest at 67-67. After a William Penn turnover, Clarke was fouled and hit both free throws to take a two-point lead.

The Statesmen were unable to hit a last-second shot and fell to Clarke.

Kayla Peoples (Sr., Waco, Texas, Nursing) and Carter each scored six points.

Freehill grabbed five rebounds for the Statesmen.

"Heartbreaking loss on the road tonight." Head Coach Sheawn Bedford said, "We battled the entire game, and gave ourselves a chance in the 4th quarter. A couple calls and plays didn't go our way late, but we kept fighting. I'm really proud of this group."

Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa on Saturday to host conference foe MidAmerica Nazarene at 2 p.m.