Women's Basketball Builds Up Large Lead in Win Over William Penn

Marshall, Mo., (Nov. 20, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams hosted William Penn (Iowa) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader inside the Burns Athletic Complex, Wednesday evening.  The Viking women's team built up a large lead to win, 74-63.  The men's game was tied at halftime, but Missouri Valley fell, 82-68.

The women's game started with Missouri Valley moving in front early, on an opening three-pointer from Junior Sophie Sullivan (Lombard, Ill.), followed by a Senior Rajone Callahan (Wichita, Kan.) layup to make it a 5-2 score.  William Penn was held to without a field goal for nearly three minutes of play through a stretch in the quarter, but answered with a 7-2 run to pull ahead, 9-8.  The Vikings broke a more than two-minute drought with a Sophomore Ricarda Schott (Krefeld, Germany) layup to go back in front, 10-9, near the four-minute mark.  Sullivan came up with a steal on an inbounds pass for WPU, which led to a three-point play to extend the advantage out to 13-9 moments later.  Senior Noa Fernandez (Castaneda, Spain) added to the lead on a made jumper with just over two minutes to play in the quarter.  Schott added one free throw, and scoring was capped by another Fernandez layup to make it a 20-12 score going into the second quarter.

William Penn opened the quarter with four-straight points to cut the gap down to 23-16 with less than one minute played.  The first field goal came from Sullivan, on a three-pointer at the eight-minute mark to give the team a double-digit advantage, 27-16.  Junior Gabriela Modeva (Ohrid, Macedonia) added the next basket for MVC, followed by a layup from Senior Ylenia Exposito (Tenerife, Canary Islands) to stretch the lead out to 33-19 midway through the quarter.   The two teams traded points through the rest of play in the half.  The final basket for MVC came from Freshman D'ajha Horton (Aurora, Colo.) with just over one minute play, and the Vikings went into halftime on top, 37-27.

Play in the third quarter began with a three-point play from Junior Sara Ortiz (La Roda, Spain), as Missouri Valley held a 41-27 lead with two minutes played.  Exposito added a three-pointer, and Modeva came up with a steal and fast-break layup to give the team a 48-32 advantage midway through the quarter.  The Vikings added points from the free throw line over the next three-minute stretch, with a three-point basket from Horton making it a 55-37 score with just over one minute remaining.  Schott added a layup, and Sullivan sank a pair of free throws late to send the game into the fourth quarter with MVC ahead, 59-39.

The fourth quarter featured William Penn gradually reducing its deficit.  The Vikings were outscored by a 7-2 margin over the opening two minutes to put the score at 61-46.  The two teams traded points over the next stretch, as two made free throws from Callahan and a Schott jumper put the lead at 67-49 near the six-minute mark.  William Penn then outscored MVC by a 10-0 margin over the next four minutes to cut the gap down to single-digits, 67-59.  Missouri Valley responded with four points from Exposito and a three-point play from Schott to put the game out of reach.  The Vikings finished out a 74-63 victory.

Exposito led with 15 points, to go with four rebounds, while Sullivan had 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.  Callahan added 10 points and six rebounds, while Schott came off the bench to add 12 points and six rebounds.  Missouri Valley held a 58-33 advantage in rebounds, and held WPU to 33-percent shooting from the floor.

Missouri Valley improves to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Heart.  William Penn drops to 1-5 on the season and 0-3 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking basketball teams host Peru State (Neb.) in a Heart doubleheader, Saturday.  Women's game at 5 p.m., and the men's game follows at 7 p.m.

Box Score-Click Here

About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.