Park University's women's basketball program commenced the 2023-24 season at Breckon Sports Center against Avila University on Monday and the Pirates came out on top 73-65.

This was the season opener for both teams and Park now is 1-0 and while the Eagles drop their first game. Park is now 4-1 against the Eagles and has a four-game winning streak in their last meetings.

Park out scored the Eagles in each quarter except for the fourth in route to an eight-point win.

Avila scored the first points of the game, but then four consecutive three-pointers were drained by Park, three by Taylor Shelby and one by Iva Drobnjak.

Park worked their way to a 18-9 lead with 2:32 remaining in the first quarter and Avila began to pick it up with an 8-3 run to end the quarter, 21-17.

Three points would be the smallest deficit for the Eagles in the second quarter. Two new faces on the team are Nevaeh Spillman and Eden Billups who gave solid contributions with a combined eight points between them in the second quarter. The Pirates were able to get to the line effectively on the night with 26 free throw attempts despite only shooting 15-of-26. A pair of free throws were made by Shelby before the end of the quarter for a nine point lead, 35-26.

The Pirates built their largest lead of the game in the third quarter of 16 points at 4:52, 48-32. A 2022 Heart All-Conference Honorable Mention awardee Makayla Artis had a big scoring role in the third quarter with six points out of halftime. There were eight Avila turnovers to four for Park in the third quarter, which held true during the course of the game with 20 Avila turnovers to 14 for Park. This also amounted to five extra points for Park in points off of turnovers for Park over Avila, 25-20. As the third quarter winded down, Angel Wiggins gave her team a boost with an and-one to close out the quarter at 55-42.

While Park started off well from three-point range, the Pirates did not make any more three point shots while Avila finished strong from deep at 7-of-15 in the second half. The Eagles put a dent in the deficit, but each time Park held off a big run. Spillman, the freshman from Liberty North HS, played a big role in the fourth quarter with eight points to help secure a 73-65 win.

Shelby and Spillman were offensive drivers for the Pirates with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Shelby was three-for-four in her three-point attempts and led the team with four steals defensively. Spillman had a fantastic debut with a near double-double night at 16 points and nine rebounds.

Artis joins Spillman with nine rebounds and also played a balanced game with seven points and three assists.

Drobnjak and Eden Billups were close to double-figures with nine points each as well. Drobnjak really ran the offense well with five assists.

Both teams were 33.3-percent from three-point range, but the Pirates edged the Eagles from the field at 51.9-percent to 44.6-percent.

The Pirates will play again in Breckon Sports Center on Saturday at 4pm against University of Saint Mary.  Watch the live-action here.
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