Pride roll to dominant 89-63 victory over William Penn

OSKALOOSA, Iowa - Beginning the final week of the regular season with a mid-week road trip to Oskaloosa, the Clarke University women's basketball team took care of business to an 89-63 win over William Penn University on Wednesday night.

With the win, CU clinched their fewest losses in a full regular season in program history as they move to 26-1 overall and 22-1 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference coming off of the regular season championship clinching win last Saturday.

The Pride won all four quarters against WPU starting with a strong nine-point advantage in the opening frame that finished 26-17 behind 10 points from junior Mya Merschan as the forward finished with a game-high 19 points on 8-of-14 (57.4%) shooting from the field while grabbing three rebounds, dishing out three assists, and blocking two shots.

Wednesday was another occasion down the stretch in which all five Clarke starters scored in double figures as Taylor Haase finished with 15 points and seven rebounds with the trio of Nicole McDermott, Izzie Peterson, and Maci Kuchta all adding 10 points and at least six rebounds with McDermott finishing with a game-high 12 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season while Kuchta finished with a game-high five assists.

As a team, the Pride shot 33-of-77 (42.9%) from the field while knocking down 10 of their 32 three points attempts and hitting 13-of-14 (92.9%) of their free throws as they also dominated the hustle stat categories with a significant advantage in points off of turnovers (19-7), second chance points (15-6), and points in the paint (36-24).

Rebounding played a huge factor in the win for CU as they grabed 56 rebounds to just 38 for the Statesmen with the Pride grabbing more defensive rebounds at 39 than WPU grabbed total rebounds in the whole game.

William Penn finished with two players in double figures led by 16 points from Aysia Arrowood as she also led the team with seven rebounds while Mercer Roberts had 12 points, four assists, and three rebounds.

Clarke women's basketball will wrap up the 2023-24 regular season on Saturday when they face Peru State College for a 12:00 p.m. CT scheduled tip between the Pride and Bobcats before Clarke prepares to host the first round of the Heart Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 28.