Park University's women's basketball program took on Haskell Indian Nations University at Breckon Sports Center on Thursday, stealing the win in the last seconds against Haskell 71-66.
The Pirates climb to 2-1 on the year, while Haskell drops to 1-4 through the opening weeks of the season.
It was a good start for the Pirates with a layup by
Makayla Artis and then an additional three points from
Iva Drobnjak on a layup and made free-throw to give the Pirates a 5-0 lead. It became a competitive quarter as it went along with five different lead changes. Drobjnak led all Pirates with five points in the first quarter, but Haskell held onto the lead at half 22-18 after a 9-2 scoring run spanning from 2:50 to 46 seconds to go.
Emma Perry came out in the second quarter with a big three-pointer to make it 22-21 at the 9:00 minute mark. Perry led the Pirates with three three-pointers by the end of the night, which will be a big storyline to circle back to. Both teams had a tug of war for the lead at 6:40 remaining in the half with Haskell up 26-25. This would be the start of a 9-0 run for the Pirates on three consecutive three-point plays, including threes by Perry,
Angel Wiggins, and then a converted and-one by Drobnjak. The last five minutes went dry for Park though, allowing Haskell to rally with a 12-1 scoring run to overtake Park before half, 38-35. Credit Haskell with five three-pointers in the half.
It was not the start to the third quarter that the Pirates wanted with a 5-0 run for Haskell to start the second half over the first 3:00 on the clock. Not much ground was made up in quarter three and Haskell led by 10 points at 3:41, 49-39. Drobnjak and
Marina Perdiguero combined for a nice 6-0 Pirates response to cut the deficit to 4 points at 2:07. Drobnjak had one layup while Perdiguero had two layups in that span. Another big scoring run would be coming for Haskell though as a 7-0 run gave them their biggest lead of 11 points before the quarter ended 56-47.
It was back-and-forth out of the gate in the fourth quarter, but Park capped off a 6-0 run at the 5:18 mark to get them back in it at 60-56. Artis had great and-one to bring the game within four points and she was second in scoring for Park with 14 points. Haskell got into some foul trouble down the stretch with two players fouling out before the night was done. This allowed Park to go 9-of-13 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter alone. Within that total, Artis went six-of-seven from the strike in the final period. Haskell kept Park at an arm's length for most of the second half, but the Pirates tied the game for the first time since the first half at 64-64 off a bucket from Perry. Park's defense did their job and only allowed Haskell to score one more time at the 1:50 mark which led into Wiggins' floater in the lane to tie the game at 66-66. Following a steal by Perry, the Pirates had the opportunity to hold the ball for the last shot, which they would capitalize fully on. Time was winding down but Coach
Norman Kenneth Cooper Jr. dialed up a play for his deep threat Perry. Despite taking a shot well-beyond normal three-point line, Perry sank her biggest shot of the season through three games in a Pirate uniform. There were two more free-throws tacked on by Perry to give Park its second win, 71-66.
Perry finished with a team-leading 18 points and also contributed six rebounds.
Artis earned a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Drobnjak made it to 10 points on the night and had a well balanced game with five rebounds and five assists.
Nevaeh Spillman had a great defensive effort for the Pirates with three steals on the game as well.
Park had the advantage at the free-throw line at 17-of-24, while Haskell just did not have as many opportunities at 10-of-12.
Haskell did have the advantage in shooting from the field at 41.7-percent to 37.9-percent.
Wednesday, November 15 marks the start of Heart conference play in Breckon Sports Center as Park takes on Peru State College at 5:30pm.
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