Davenport--Most anyone who follows athletic events will attest that there is no such thing as a moral victory in sports, but if there was such a thing, the Penn women's basketball team claimed one Wednesday in a 52-44 loss to St. Ambrose in Midwest Collegiate Conference action.

Penn (12-16, 4-10 MCC) did not take home the win against the league-leading Queen Bees, but gave a more than valiant effort, including holding its opponent to a season-low 52 points on 32.1% shooting. Unfortunately, the Lady Statesmen shot just 27.7% themselves for their second-lowest scoring tally of the year.

The visitors came ready to play, holding the lead for much of the first half, including being ahead 24-21 at the break. The advantage, which was as much as six in the early minutes of the second half, stayed with Penn until the 15:55 mark when St. Ambrose's Ali Dolphin hit two free throws to give her team the edge at 28-27, a lead the hosts would not relinquish.

The Lady Statesmen stayed close for the remainder of the night, pulling as close as three points on three different occasions in the waning minutes, but it was not enough in the end.

Veronica Henton (Jr., Paradise, Calif., Butte CC) and Carrie Parker (Sr., Guttenberg, Clayton Ridge HS) led Penn with 11 points each, while Henton posted her first double-double of the year with a team-best ten rebounds as well. Henton scored most of her points at the line on a 7-10 performance, while Parker tied a game high with three three-pointers.

Lindsey Edgeman (So., Niangua, Mo., Truman State) match a season best with nine points (all three-pointers) and Laura Olson (Jr., Spanaway, Wash., Tacoma CC) added seven in the setback.

The Lady Statesmen dominated the boards with a 44-36 edge, but doubled up the Queen Bees in the one category a team does not want to--turnovers--with a 28-14 edge.

Next: Penn travels to Dubuque to face Clarke Saturday in league action at 1 p.m. The Lady Statesmen will be seeking to sweep the season series after winning 75-51 in Oskaloosa on January 19. The contest will be webstreamed on the William Penn Athletics website, courtesy of Stretch Internet, at http://statesmen.wmpenn.edu/radio.php