The Lady Statesmen (1-1) opened with a 73-56 loss to #7 College of the Ozarks, but evened their record with a 75-70 upset victory over #25 Haskell Indian Nations (Kan.) Saturday. It is the first win over a ranked opponent in the Brian Spielbauer-coached era.

The visitors had troubles getting out of the gates Friday, falling behind by double digits. Penn was not able to come back unfortunately, but did prove something to the defending national semifinalists as it played even with the Bobcats for much of the first half and drew even in the second stanza at 33-33.

The Lady Statesmen actually outshot Ozarks 44.8%-39.3% after intermission.

Samantha Darley (Jr., Gilbert, Ariz., Mesa CC) was a huge spark off the bench with a team-high 11 points (4-6 FG), while returning NAIA Honorable-Mention All-American Christa Subbert (Jr., Stanton, Stanton HS) added eight points.

Newcomer Rachel Butler (Jr., Anaheim, Calif., Cerritos CC) scored seven points and Nancy Chicas (Sr., San Francisco, Calif., San Mateo CC) had six points with team highs in assists (5) and steals (3).

Carleigh Hobson (Jr., Lancaster, Calif., Antelope Valley CC) added five points in a non-starting role, while four other players had four points each.

Janice Adams (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Austin HS) topped the rebounding effort with a game-high 11 boards as Penn controlled that action with a 45-34 edge, including a 15-8 margin offensively.

"We fell behind big early, but played them very even after that," Lady Statesmen Head Coach Brian Spielbauer said. "We need to understand that we cannot play that bad early and dig holes for ourselves."

Subbert was much more proficient Saturday with 23 points, including 19 second-half points. Darley again tallied 11 points, all coming in the first half.

Butler contributed nine points in the win, while Chicas had eight and the trio of Adams, Hobson, and Ashton Perez (Jr., Wildomar, Calif., Riverside CC) scored six points each.

"Samantha Darley was huge for us in the first half to get us off to a great start," Spielbauer said. "Christa Subbert had an awesome second half and really stepped up for us late."

"We felt entering this season that we were much improved and that we were ready to play these games against strong programs," Spielbauer added. "We thought we could play with them and we proved that we were right. I am really happy to come out of this weekend with a 1-1 record and I look forward to continuing the season on Tuesday."

Next: Penn returns to Oskaloosa for its home opener Tuesday as it hosts Dana (Neb.) in non-conference action at 8 p.m.