Park University's women's basketball program had a hard-fought game against No. 4 Clarke University on Saturday, falling to the Pride 59-54.

The Pirates move to 6-5 on the season and are now 3-4 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. As the 2023 NAIA National Champions, the Pride have been perfect so far in 2023-24 at 5-0 in conference play and 8-0 on the season. After today, they bump up to 6-0 and 9-0, respectively.

There were three lead changes in an entertaining first quarter of this contest. Marina Perdiguero gave the Pirates their first lead with a layup at the 4:05 mark for the 6-5 lead. The Pirates held on to a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter after leading for the last three and a half minutes before the start of the second quarter. Perdiguero gave Park a boost off the bench with eight points, six of which came in the first quarter.

Only three points were scored through 4:15 of quarter two. Nevaeh Spillman asserted herself down low and gave Park the lead at 5:41 with a layup, 18-16. There was a 4-0 run by the Pride, which then was answered by a Taylor Shelby three-pointer for a 21-20 lead at 4:51. The deep ball kept the Pirates in striking distance of Clarke as Emma Perry minutes later connected from three-point range to tie the game at 24-24 with 2:58 left in the half. The second quarter ended in Clarke's favor with an 8-0 run in the last 2:33 for a 32-24 lead at the break.

It was not quite the start Park hoped for off of halftime as the Pride went on a 9-2 run through the first five minutes in the third quarter. Perry again answered with a three-pointer to end the drought but Clarke countered as well to preserve a 12-point advantage. Before the quarter was out, the Pride reached their largest lead at 2:47with an 18-point lead, 49-31.

The Pirates had a sensational fourth quarter with a 12-0 run, which included eight points from Shelby who led the scoring effort for Park with 14 points in the game. In the last five minutes of the game things got interesting and Clarke did enough to keep their lead. Another 4-0 run by Perry and Spillman brought Park back within three-points, but the Pride held on for a 59-54 win in the end.

Park held the Pride to their lowest point total so far in 2023-24 and 21 points below their current season average. The Pirates also forced 23 turnovers by Clarke, a new season-high for the Pride.
Park scored 16 points off of turnovers, while Clarke scored 12 points off of 19 Park turnovers.

The Pirates edged the Pride in three-point field goals with five-of-25 compared to only two-of-16 from the Pride.

Altogether, Clarke shot a higher clip from the field, 40.7-percent to 33.3-percent. A lot of points were left out there from the free throw line at 13-of-22, while Park shot it well from the strike at nine-of-11.

Spillman was the only other Pirate in double-digit scoring with 10 points and also led Park in rebounding with eight boards.

Perry joined Perdiguero with eight points, while Drobjnak and Artis both contributed six points.

Drobjnak had four assists on the game and has averaged nearly three assists a game this year.

Park will make the most of a break from their normal mid-week game and play again in a week's time on Saturday, December 16 at noon in Breckon Sports Center against Graceland University. WATCH
Box Score