Women's Basketball Overcomes Early Deficit, Pulls Away From William Penn in Road Win

Oskaloosa, Iowa, (Dec. 6, 2025)- The Missouri Valley College basketball teams traveled to Oskaloosa, Iowa, Saturday afternoon, for a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader against William Penn (Iowa).  The women's team overcame an early deficit and pulled away for a 70-57 victory.

The women's game started with Missouri Valley falling behind early in the first quarter.  A layup from Freshman Guard Maddison Mills (Farmington, Mo.) cut the MVC deficit to 8-6 with just over four minutes played, but William Penn followed with a 10-0 run over a nearly four-minute stretch of play.  Junior Guard Jessica Reeter (Chillicothe, Mo.) came up with a steal, which led to a Sophomore Guard Seilani Relford (Aurora, Colo.) layup to end the Viking drought, while WPU eventually owned a 21-8 advantage with just over one minute to play in the quarter.  Freshman Forward Bianca Sarbu (Bucharest, Romania) scored the final six points for the Vikings before the quarter came to an end with the team trailing, 21-14.

Missouri Valley began to chip away at its deficit at the start of the second quarter, helped by layups from both Senior Guard Sophie Sullivan (Lombard, Ill.) and Senior Center Sara Ortiz (La Roda, Spain), while Sarbu made a jumper to put the gap at 23-20 with just over one minute off the clock.  William Penn responded with a 7-0 run through the next two minutes of play to hold a double-digit lead once again, 30-20.  Sarbu ended the MVC drought with a three-pointer, then added a layup to start a long run.  Ortiz continued the stretch with a layup, and Junior Guard Jozelynn Bostick (Centralia, Mo.) sank a three-point shot.  Ortiz and Bostick both added a layup each to cap a 14-0 run that sent the team on top, 34-30, with just over one minute to play before the break.  As time was winding down in the quarter, Bostick came up with a steal, and Ortiz ended the possession with another layup to send Missouri Valley into halftime in front, 36-32.

Scoring began for the Vikings after halftime with a three-pointer by Mills to stretch the advantage out to 39-33 on the team's first possession.  Missouri Valley went scoreless over the next two minutes, until layups from both Reeter and Sarbu put the score at 43-35 near the seven-minute mark.  The Vikings followed with another scoring drought, lasting more than four minutes.  However, WPU only cut its deficit down to 43-39 during that span of play.  Ortiz took control on the offensive side of the floor in the final three minutes, scoring seven-straight points for MVC, and giving the team a 50-42 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Missouri Valley moved its advantage to double-digits early in the fourth quarter, with a 7-0 run.  Reeter and Sullivan both put in layups and Sarbu sank a three-pointer to make it a 57-42 game with two minutes off the clock.  The next Viking field goal came midway through the half, as a Reeter layup made it a 60-44 score.  Sarbu followed with a three-point play, and Reeter sank a three-pointer near the three-minute mark to move the advantage out to 68-49.  William Penn tried to rally late, with an 8-0 run in the closing minutes, but a Sullivan jumper in the final seconds finished out scoring and capped a 70-57 win for Missouri Valley.

Sarbu came off the bench to score a season-high 21 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the floor, to go with eight rebounds and four blocks.  Ortiz had 19 points and nine rebounds, while Reeter finished with 10 points.  Missouri Valley shot over 50-percent from the floor and held a 43-28 edge in rebounding.  The team also blocked seven shots.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 6-5 overall and 5-1 in the Heart.  William Penn falls to 3-9 on the season and 1-4 in the conference.

Up next, the women's basketball team will host Health Sciences & Pharmacy (Mo.) in a non-conference game, Thursday at 6 p.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The men's team will next play Dec. 13, at home against Columbia (Mo.) in a non-conference game, with tip-off at 4 p.m.

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Standing out as one of the most innovative and student-focused liberal arts colleges in the Midwest, Missouri Valley College (MVC) is committed to preparing students for success beyond the classroom. Through the Viking Voyage program, MVC prioritizes career readiness from day one, equipping students with the knowledge and skills needed to excel after graduation. Each of MVC's 30+ in-demand majors—including nursing, business, cybersecurity, computer science, criminal justice, and exercise science—integrates personal instruction, experiential learning, and professional opportunities to prepare graduates to thrive in a rapidly changing and globally connected world. At Missouri Valley College, higher education is more than earning a degree—it's a transformative journey that begins with the end.