
William Penn Struggles Offensively in Road Loss to Mount Mercy
Cedar Rapids--The Statesmen women's basketball team was hampered by inefficiency on the offensive end as it fell 63-38 to Mount Mercy in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Wednesday.
WPU (2-14, 1-11 Heart), which was outshot 42.9%-26.4% in the low-scoring affair, actually fared better behind the arc at 28.6%, making more shots from outside the perimeter (8) than inside (6).
Unfortunately, 20 navy and gold turnovers (14 for Mount Mercy) and a 15-2 deficit in made free throws (MMU was 15-for-19; WPU was 2-for-4) added to the struggles against the Mustangs (11-6, 9-5 Heart).
The visitors suffered another slow start, giving up the first five points of the night en route to falling behind 22-10 after one period on the hardwood. The Statesmen failed to tighten the margin as MMU slowly pulled away for the victory.
William Penn was void of a player reaching double digits as Tionna Traylor (Jr., Springfield, Ill., Psychology) paced her crew with eight points off the bench.
The trio of Carley West (Jr., Saint Paul, Minn., Human Services), Cortlynn Jackson (So., Des Moines, Iowa, Sports Management), and Lacy Whitcomb (Sr., Overland Park, Kan., Psychology) all contributed six points. Jackson matched Traylor with two three-pointers.
Aysia Arrowood (Sr., Wichita, Kan., Sports Management) added five points in addition to seven rebounds. Overall, WPU stuck with MMU on the glass, narrowly losing the rebounding battle 35-34.
Mariah Baltierra (Sr., Norcross, Ga., Sports Management) tallied three assists, while Jackson and West both managed two steals.
"This was a frustrating night for our group," Interim Head Coach Sheawn Bedford said. "We came out slow and could never really find our way. I am once again proud of our effort, though, but the lack of scoring tonight hurt us from being successful in this game."
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Saturday to host Park in Heart play at 2 p.m.