Jay Daubenberger
Liberal, Kansas – After helping the Seward County Lady Saints to a winning season in her only year in Liberal, Kansas, sophomore guard Kayla Peoples has made her decision to continue her academic and athletic career at the four-year level after signing with William Penn University.
Peoples was a key contributor for the Lady Saints throughout her sophomore campaign, averaging 6.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game to help SCCC to a 17-15 finish on the 2023-24 campaign while going even in KJCCC action at 12-12. She reached the double figures mark in eight games this past season with three of her first four seeing her score 10+ to help the Lady Saints to a 3-1 start. Her season high came in an overtime win against Cisco College in the second week of the season with Peoples scoring 16 points in the win over the Wranglers.
She will be joining a William Penn program that struggled this past season at 4-24 overall while going 3-21 in conference action with all of their wins coming by no more than four points. Peoples will be looked upon as a veteran presence that can make an immediate impact on the floor to help rebuild their program into a winning contender.
“Kayla will be an immediate impact player for William Penn on day one. We couldn’t be more excited for her to find her “fit” at WPU. They are getting someone who creates her offense by her strong efforts defensively. Kayla can knock down the three or take you off the dribble and attack the basket. Most importantly, in a guard-oriented conference, she will be able to defend the other team’s best perimeter player every night” said Seward County Head Coach Will Marchino.
“In our program at Seward, we will work relentlessly to find the best “fit” for all of our student-athletes when it comes to academics, athletics, and financial situations. Kayla has absolutely hit a home run in all three categories attending William Penn University. We are SO EXCITED to watch Kayla attack her goals and dreams academically, while still being able to play basketball at an extremely high level. The Heart of America Athletic Conference is one of (if not the) best Women’s basketball conferences in all of NAIA. The William Penn program is on the rise and Kayla will help take it to the next level.”
Peoples is the second four-year signee for the Lady Saints this season as she joins her teammate Jamia Carter (Portland State) at the next level with two more Seward County players waiting to make their decisions in the coming weeks.