Strong first half leads to wire-to-wire Pride victory at William Penn

OSKALOOSA, Iowa - Following a heartbreaker of the loss on Wednesday night, the Clarke University women's basketball team bounced back in a big way with a resounding win on the road against William Penn University on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 68-47.

A one-possession game about halfway through the first quarter, the Pride would go on a 12-1 over the next 3:24 to lead 22-8 before ending the opening 10 minutes up 11 points at 22-11 before pulling away more in the second quarter to lead 39-21 at halftime after a 17-10 second.

CU earned thinner quarter wins in the third and fourth to cruise to victory at the end, behind a stifling defense that limited the Statesmen to 15-of-63 (23.8%) shooting from the field while also forcing 16 WPU turnovers that turned into 14 Clarke points off of those turnovers.

On their offensive end, the Pride had four of their five starters score in double figures, led by a pair of double-doubles from Zoe Kennedy and Camdyn Kay with Kennedy leading all scorers with 16 points and adding 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals, and a blocked shot while Kay had a 13-point game along with a career-high 14 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.

The other two guards in the CU starting unit of Hailey Walters and Josie Potts both scored 12 points with both players hitting two shots from beyond the three point arc to combine for four of the six makes from three in the game for Clarke.

Entering the final week of January at an even 10-10 overall record and a 6-6 record in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, Clarke women's basketball will remain on the road for their first game next week when they travel to Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday, Jan. 28 for a 5:30 p.m. CT scheduled opening tip in the rematch between the Vikings and Pride.