Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s basketball team forced 28 turnovers and overcame poor free-throw shooting to defeat Avila 73-66 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Saturday.

WPU (3-3, 1-1 Heart) was outshot 39.7{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}-39.3{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}, but produced 24 points off of those 28 Eagle mistakes.  The home squad fell behind 15-5 early, but finished the first quarter with an 18-6 run to lead 23-21.

Avila (1-6, 0-2 Heart) reclaimed the edge one final time at 25-24, but grabbed the advantage right back on a bucket by Alyssa Phillips (Jr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications), two of her 18 points in the contest.

The Statesmen led 39-29 at intermission, but the resilient Eagles rallied to within two points twice in the third period.  Fortunately, the navy and gold produced 12 straight points for a game-high 14-point edge at 56-42 with 2:01 on the clock in the third quarter.

AU had one more push, drawing within two at 67-65 with 2:20 remaining in regulation.  Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) took over down the stretch, posting the next five points to seal the victory.  Nwagbaraocha was 7-for-8 from the field and 9-for-14 at the line for a game-high 23 points.  While her charity-stripe shooting was not exactly great, it was actually pretty amazing in comparison to how poorly the Statesmen shot overall, going 23-for-43 total.

William Penn was outrebounded 42-39, but a 15-12 offensive edge helped the victors to a 13-7 margin in second-chance points.  Phillips and Sabrina Avery (Fr., Riverside, Calif., Psychology and Sociology) both pulled down nine rebounds.

Ashlee Harper (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif., Education) contributed nine points, while Jenna Santi (Fr., Oak Creek, Wis., Elementary Education) had seven and Dezarea Duckworth (So., Bryant, Ark., Exercise Science) finished with six.

Phillips also stole four passes and blocked two shots, while Avery assisted on three field goals.

“I am very proud of our team tonight,” Head Coach Willie Scott said.  “We played with a sense of urgency.  The fact that we did not give up the lead late showed a lot of determination.  Hopefully, this will grow our confidence and we can build from here.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Clinton next Saturday to face Mount Mercy as part of the Ashford Classic.  Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s basketball team forced 28 turnovers and overcame poor free-throw shooting to defeat Avila 73-66 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Saturday.

WPU (3-3, 1-1 Heart) was outshot 39.7{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}-39.3{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}, but produced 24 points off of those 28 Eagle mistakes.  The home squad fell behind 15-5 early, but finished the first quarter with an 18-6 run to lead 23-21.

Avila (1-6, 0-2 Heart) reclaimed the edge one final time at 25-24, but grabbed the advantage right back on a bucket by Alyssa Phillips (Jr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications), two of her 18 points in the contest.

The Statesmen led 39-29 at intermission, but the resilient Eagles rallied to within two points twice in the third period.  Fortunately, the navy and gold produced 12 straight points for a game-high 14-point edge at 56-42 with 2:01 on the clock in the third quarter.

AU had one more push, drawing within two at 67-65 with 2:20 remaining in regulation.  Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) took over down the stretch, posting the next five points to seal the victory.  Nwagbaraocha was 7-for-8 from the field and 9-for-14 at the line for a game-high 23 points.  While her charity-stripe shooting was not exactly great, it was actually pretty amazing in comparison to how poorly the Statesmen shot overall, going 23-for-43 total.

William Penn was outrebounded 42-39, but a 15-12 offensive edge helped the victors to a 13-7 margin in second-chance points.  Phillips and Sabrina Avery (Fr., Riverside, Calif., Psychology and Sociology) both pulled down nine rebounds.

Ashlee Harper (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif., Education) contributed nine points, while Jenna Santi (Fr., Oak Creek, Wis., Elementary Education) had seven and Dezarea Duckworth (So., Bryant, Ark., Exercise Science) finished with six.

Phillips also stole four passes and blocked two shots, while Avery assisted on three field goals.

“I am very proud of our team tonight,” Head Coach Willie Scott said.  “We played with a sense of urgency.  The fact that we did not give up the lead late showed a lot of determination.  Hopefully, this will grow our confidence and we can build from here.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Clinton next Saturday to face Mount Mercy as part of the Ashford Classic.  Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Central College Wrestling team was able to come on top in two weight classes at the Auggie Adidas Open hosted by Augsburg College (Minn.)Saturday.

It’s the second time the Dutch have achieved the feat this year, having previously done it at the Platteville Invitational on November 7. The field at this tournament was loaded with talent, including members of Augsburg’s 2015 NCAA Division III Championship team.

“We’re really intentional about getting up to Augsburg just for the quality of competition,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “We not only want to wrestle great competition in the Iowa Conference but also outside the conference. To have success at a tournament like this reiterates the fact that the expectations level of our program continue to rise.”

At 125 pounds, the AJ Pestano (senior, Torrance, Calif.) and CJ Pestano (sophomore, Torrance, Calif.) shared the individual crown, both going 3-0 to reach the title match in the Gold Bracket. The brothers are able to push each other in practice on a regular basis and have spurred each other to high levels of success.

“There’s a little bit of a competitive rivalry with those two,” Van Kley said. “They both feed off the success that the other one has. There’s a really close relationship between the two and I think they’re success is contagious with each other.”

Ryan Vandall (junior, Phoenix, Ariz., Moon Valley HS) won his second title of the season at 165 pounds. Vandall went 3-0 and defeated Zak Benitz of Upper Iowa in the final. Vandall was the starter at 149 pounds last year, but the move up has been beneficial for the junior.

“Moving up two weight classes has been really good for him,” Van Kley said. “He put a tremendous amount of time and energy into the weight room over the summer and he’s wrestling with a lot of confidence. He’s winning hard-fought matches the right way.”

In the 285 pound silver bracket, Jaime Miranda (junior, Aberdeen, Wash.) went 3-1 to take second. He came up on the losing end of the title bout against Logan Linderbaum from Minnesota State, but Van Kley was pleased with Miranda’s effort.

“Jaime had a great day,” he said. “He lost a close match in the finals to a pretty talented guy. He’s wrestling with more composure and consistency each and every week.”

In total, nine Dutch wrestlers were place-winners on the day.

“We’re competing extremely hard and committed to the little things,” Van Kley said. “We’ve just got to continue to get better and stick to the process.”

Central returns to the mat for an 8 p.m. dual against Augustana (Ill.) in Indianola on December 3.

Story provided by  Joe Flaherty

Oskaloosa–The Statesmen men’s basketball team made a big statement Saturday as it dispatched previously-unbeaten Avila 108-72 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.

William Penn (6-1, 2-0 Heart) went wire-to-wire in its highest-scoring game of the year.  The navy and gold led 10-2 just 1:51 into the matchup, but the Eagles (6-1, 1-1 Heart) managed to keep it close at 30-21 with 8:19 still left in the first half.

The hosts kept pushing, ending the stanza on a 10-3 run to lead 53-30 at halftime.  They never let up, staying up by at least 22 points for the last 20 minutes of action (high of 42 points).

The Statesmen dominated in nearly every category, including shooting (53.7{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}-43.9{99cd714f394079a7f0ed2eb1518dd31342ff3ceb5b6c267c3ad8acd5b5a7d66b}) and rebounding (54-37).  WPU had six fewer turnovers (14-20), leading to an impressive 18-4 advantage in points off mistakes.

Even when the Statesmen struggled (10-for-25 at the line), they found success as they pulled down numerous missed attempts, both at the line and from the floor, en route to an 18-0 edge in second-chance points.

Antonio Levy (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) paced WPU with 21 points, while six of his teammates also reached double digits.

Brady Burford (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) and Dondre Alexander (Jr., Iowa City, Iowa, Physical Education) tallied 14 points each, while Charles Knowles (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) and Josh Caldwell (Sr., Denver, Colo., Physical Education) added 13 points apiece.

Shane Bosek (Sr., Lowry, Minn., Physical Education) finished with 12 points, but it was Steven Roundtree (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla., Physical Education) who had the most balanced evening with a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds.  Roundtree stole three passes as well.

Kevin Smith (Jr., Baltimore, Md., Physical Education) dished out four assists in the win.

“With Avila’s undefeated record coming into the game, our guys were very focused,” Head Coach John Henry said.  “Coach Sandquist did a nice job with the scouting report, as he always does.  Our rebounding was key tonight, especially on free throw box-out situations.”

Next Up: William Penn remain in Oskaloosa next Friday, hosting Oak Hills Christian in non-conference play at 7 p.m.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage