Park University's women's basketball program shocked (RV) Missouri Valley College on Wednesday evening in Breckon Sports Center, defeating the Vikings, 73-62.

The Pirates climb to 6-4 on the season and are an even 3-3 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. The Vikings have been a tough team to crack and now are third in the Heart with only their first conference loss coming to night at 5-1 with a 7-2 regular season record.

Park is now 2-1 against Missouri Valley in their last three meetings.

Park held Missouri Valley nine points below their season average of 73 points per game.

Missouri Valley got on the board first but Taylor Shelby scored four answered and then her teammate Emma Perry tacked on a layup for a 6-0 run. Park went on another 6-0 run from 6:04 to 3:41 in the first quarter for a 14-4 lead. The Pirates were able to maintain the lead over Missouri Valley into the second quarter at 19-10.

The Pirates' lineup was firing on all cylinders with four players in double-figures, including Marina Perdiguero who had her 2023-24 season-high of 10 points tonight and was part of a 7-2 run near the beginning of the second quarter. Shelby also part of that 7-2 run topped it off with a three-pointer to give Park a 13-point lead at 7:29, 26-13. Shelby led all Park players with 13 points and was three-of-six from beyond the arc. Missouri Valley was held to only 24 points in the first half as Park claimed the 12-point halftime lead, 36-24.

In the third quarter the Vikings were climbing back into the game at 38-31, but two of Park's veterans on the floor made sure to put an end to the attacks with a 5-0 rally of their own, Makayla Artis on the layup and Shelby hit a three from deep to retain the 43-31 lead. Park put an emphasis on taking care of the ball as well and only five turnovers were committed by the Pirates in the second half compared to seven by the Vikings. In the last two minutes of the third quarter, the Pirates were given a big lift by three-point shots from Shelby and Angel Wiggins, which gave Park a 55-42 lead. Wiggins tacked on two more free throws before the end of the quarter for a 57-44 lead.

Park never lost the lead after the first few minutes of the first quarter as they ran it up to a 21-point lead with 3:59 remaining in the fourth quarter. The overall turnover differential was not too significant, 14 for Missouri Valley and 13 for Park, but the points off turnovers was a different story. The Pirates scored 19 points off turnovers, while the Vikings only flipped seven points on those giveaways. Eden Billups-Campbell made a free-throw to give Park a 58-44 lead with only 18 seconds expired in the fourth quarter. She did not have a loud night necessarily, but played her role well in the fourth quarter with five points. From 9:05 to 6:46 the Pirates went on a 9-2 scoring spree capped off by a Wiggins three-pointer and a Spillman layup, 67-48. This game  on paper looked a lot closer than what it was considering Missouri Valley went on a 10-0 run to end the game, but Park remained in command all four quarters for the win 73-62.

Last week's Heart player of the week on Missouri Valley, Giavanna Moore, averaged 27.5 points a game last week, but tonight was held to her season low of five points. This is the first game Moore has been held to less than 10 points in game.

Wiggins was right behind Shelby with 12 points on the night and shot 50-percent from the field.

Artis was a force down low with 10 points and 14 rebounds, including seven offensive rebounds.

Perry and Iva Drobnjak were up their in scoring too with nine and eight points, respectively.

Spillman earned her season-high of six assists, while Drobnjak had a well rounded night with seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

From the field, these teams were even, 39-percent from Missouri Valley and 38.5-percent from Park. The difference came in three-point percentage, 41.7-percent by Park and only 17.6-percent by the Vikings. Not to mention that Park was 18-of-22 from the strike, while the Vikings were only 13-of-20 from the free-throw line.

Park has their bearings after tonight's win and seeks to continue that level of play against No. 4 Clarke University on Saturday, December 9 at 12pm in Breckon Sports Center. WATCH
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