Springfield, Mo. – Evangel women’s basketball picked up a crucial win on Saturday downing William Penn 71-67 at the Ashcroft Center.
The Crusaders went on a 12-0 run midway through the fourth quarter going from a tie game at 58-58 to a 70-58 lead with 2:31 remaining.
Taylor Longley led Evangel with 19 points adding six rebounds and five assists. The junior from League City, Texas connected a season high six three-pointers. Evangel had three other players in double figures with Alison Jarrell and Paige Patterson chipping in 11. Danielle Latt added 10 points and six rebounds while going 5 for 5 from the in her senior day game.
“I thought we played well on both ends of the floor,” said Evangel head coach Leon Neal. “We had good ball movement and I was real happy for Danielle Latt. Her stat line shows how hard she played with 10 points but she had a big rebounds for us in some crucial times and had a big steal at the end.”
Alyssa Phillips led all scorers with 24 points and had a game-high seven rebounds for William Penn.
With the win, Evangel’s record improves to 7-15 and 7-11 in the Heart of America Conference. William Penn drops to 12-12 and a 9-9 conference mark. With the win and losses by Peru State and Avila, Evangel clinches a no worse than 9th place finish and guarantee themselves a spot in the Heart of America Athletic Conference tournament.
Evangel plays the second game of a two game homestand on Wednesday, February 17th when they welcome Missouri Valley to the Ashcroft Center in a battle for 8th place in the league standings. The Vikings will enter the game with a one-gam. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30pm.
