Park University's women's basketball program returned to Breckon Sports Center for their Saturday matchup with William Penn University. The Statesmen's considerable 3^rd quarter lead was cut down by Park, but William Penn went on to win, 68-64.

The Pirates are now 2-3 on the year and 0-2 in the Heart, while the Statesmen earn their second win at 2-5 and 1-2 in the conference.

For the game, there was only one lead change and one tie. It was a fast start for Park, going on a 5-0 run to begin the game off of free-throws by Emma Perry, a layup by Nevaeh Spillman, and a made free-throw by Spillman tacked on. Park continued to add to the lead with a layup by Makayla Artis and a pair of free-throws by Iva Drobnjak for an 11-5 lead at 5:18. An 8-2 run immediately following tied the game at 13 with 3:57 on the clock. Park responded well with a 5-0 run to regain the lead, 18-13. Scoring came in waves in the first quarter though as a 9-0 run closed out the quarter in favor of William Penn, 22-18.

In just under four minutes elapsed in the second quarter, the Statesmen again took charge with a 11-2 run to lead 33-20. In the first half the Statesmen were 6-of-15 from beyond the arc while Park was 0-of-7. A combined five points would be scored over the next 6:19 to end the first half with William Penn out front 36-22.

With only 22 points scored in the first half, the Pirates had their work cutout for them, but they got back to work in the third and fourth quarters with 21 points scored in each of the final two periods. Before the comeback though, the Statesmen grabbed their largest lead of the game of 15 points at 7:55. Park did not roll over on the game though and a 9-2 run ensued after the 7:55 mark. Part of that run was a big time three-pointer from Taylor Shelby at 5:58 to bring the Statesmen lead down to eight. Over the next several minutes both sides alternated on scoring and as the third quarter expired the Statesmen had a 10-point lead at 53-43.

William Penn scored the first three points of the fourth quarter, but Perry responded with a three-point shot of her own to help keep the deficit where it was at. From 7:01 to 4:20, an 8-2 run brought on by six points from Artis put Park in a great position down five, 59-54. William Penn countered enough to hold a 65-56 lead at 2:06, which gave Head Coach Norman Kenneth Cooper Jr. reason to a call timeout. It was a great time for that as his team went on a 6-0 run highlighted by a fantastic contested layup in transition by Spillman. She got the bucket and drew the foul for the and-one, bringing the Pirates to 65-62. The clock was working against the Pirates though with under a minute and a couple buckets were exchanged before the Statesmen iced the game on free-throws, 68-64.

Park had three less turnovers than the Statesmen at 14 to 17, but William Penn had 21 points off of turnovers to 12 for Park. Second chance points heavily favored the Pirates as they secured 14 offensive rebounds. Artis and Spillman showed grit down low with three offensive boards each and were also the leading scorers for the Pirates with 17 and 13 points, respectively.

17 points came from the Statesmen bench to only nine for Park. William Penn had the advantage from three-point range at eight-of-25 compared to two-of-13 for Park. Still, the Statesmen only shot a slim margin better than Park from the field, 43.9-percent to 37.3-percent.

Perry was the only other Pirate in double-figures with 11 points and led with four assists. Perry, Spillman, and Artis each came down with six rebounds though.

Marina Perdiguero led all Pirates with seven rebounds.

No. 20 MidAmerica Nazarene University is next on the Heart schedule for Park, which will be held on Tuesday, November 21 at 5:30pm. WATCH
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