(Peru, Neb.)—On Wednesday night the Peru State women's basketball team was topped by the William Penn Statesmen 79-74. Peru State falls to 8-12 and 3-8 in the Heart (North). William Penn improves to 3-20 and 3-9 in the Heart (North)
 
In the first quarter of action in the early stages it was a back-and-forth affair as both teams would trade buckets. Then the Bobcats would go on an 11-0 run making the score 22-9 with 1:17 left in the first. The Bobcats would only score one more point in the quarter but led 23-14.
 
In the second quarter William Penn scored two quick buckets to put them down by only five in just two minutes of action. The Statesmen would cut the lead all the way down two at 27-25 half way through the second quarter. The Bobcats would then stretch the lead to seven going up 36-29 with 3:19 left to play in the half. The Bobcats ended the half on a 6-0 run and would lead 42-31 at the break.
 
After the break, the Bobcats would come out with their largest lead of the game 48-33 with 6:47 left to play in the quarter off a Maddy Duncan (Hamburg, Iowa) three-point jump shot. The game took a turn when an administrative technical foul was called on Peru State late in the third quarter.
 
The Statesmen would then go on a 9-0 run to end the quarter closing the gap from 13 all the way down to one at 54-53.
 
In the fourth quarter the Bobcats would stretch their lead to five right away off a couple of buckets from Hailey Ingram (Omaha) and Jescenia Mosely (Shenandoah, Iowa). The lead was short lived as the Statesmen would close the gap immediately as they cut it to one before taking the lead off a three-point shot to make the score 64-62 with 4:51 to play.
 
The Statesmen would capitalize off another made three and capped off a 10-0 run going up 67-62. Late in the fourth the Bobcats closed the gap to three points multiple times but a costly turnover would end the hopes of the Bobcats forcing overtime or getting the win.
 
Here is what head coach, Ian Holleran had to say about the tough loss.
 
"Tonight was a super tough game full of emotions," said Holleran. "I thought we had a lot of momentum going into halftime but the slow start in the third quarter really hurt us."
 
Holleran added "I was proud that we battled for 40 minutes though." This is a very tough loss but we will continue to learn from our mistakes and improve."
 
Both teams shot the ball well from the floor as the Bobcats were 27-of-58 for a 46.6% clip and the Statesmen were 28-of-51 for a 54.9% clip. The Bobcats did not shoot well from beyond the arc as they were 6-of-27 from the three-point line shooting 22.2% while the Statesmen were 7-of-19 shooting 36.8%.
 
The Bobcats had three players in double figures tonight leading the way was guard Samantha Stewart (Mount Ayr, Iowa) with 16 points, second in scoring was forward Libby Baumert (Plattsmouth) with 13 and Duncan contributed 10 points.
 
Mosely and Julie Miller (Easton, Kan.) each grabbed five rebounds to lead Peru State. Ingram dished out a game-high six assists.
 
The Bobcats are back in action this Saturday as they head to Fayette, Missouri to take on the Central Methodist Eagles (18-4, 8-4 Heart North) at 2 pm. In the latest NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the Eagles are ranked 13^th.