Park University's women's basketball program played a Thursday night contest with MidAmerica Nazarene University in Breckon Sports Center, falling to the Pioneers 72-50.

The Pirates move to 7-10 on the season and 4-9 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, while the Pioneers bump up to 8-9 and 7-6 of the same.

The last time these teams played, MidAmerica Nazarene was ranked in the Top 25 of the NAIA and the Pirates handed the Pioneers the upset, 50-41.

The Pirates looked to control early after a back-and-forth to start the game, earning the 12-8 lead after a 4-0 run with buckets from Emma Perry and Taylor Shelby with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter. The Pioneers were able to overtake Park to end the quarter on a 5-0 run, which included a three-pointer to close out the quarter 13-12.

Mikayla Artis got the first score of the second quarter for the Pirates to answer the Pioneers' opening bucket, 15-14 at 8:28. From 8:10 to 4:18 MidAmerica Nazarene gained some distance away from Park with a 9-2 run for a 24-16 lead. Shelby got a crafty steal in the backcourt to lead to Angel Wiggins layup to end the drought. The Pioneers started to hit on open shots from deep though, including back-to-back three-pointers for their largest lead of the second quarter of 14 points with 1:35 remaining, 32-18. Wiggins and Shelby both made a pair of free-throws to put Park within 10, but the Pioneers converted on an and-one in the final seconds of the first half and led, 35-22.

The Pioneers reached a 16-point after made three-pointer at 8:14, 40-24. Through 5:12 of play in the quarter, both teams were relatively even none the less with MidAmerica Nazarene having the scoring advantage 8-6, or 43-28 on the board. Some life was given to the Pirates by Nevaeh Spillman who came up big with a converted and-one to make it 45-31 with 4:12 remaining. Through the third quarter MidAmerica Nazarene was six-of-19 from beyond the arc compared to only one-of-five of the same from Park. A key difference that led to a 54-37 fourth quarter advantage.

It was a 7-5 scoring differential in favor of Park through the first 3:14 of the fourth quarter. Wiggins lifted her team with a needed three-pointer to cut the lead to 15, 59-44. Kate Sokolova had a made free-throw to end a dry spell for Park, but other than that the Pirates were without a field goal for 2:34. Spillman then made a baseline bucket to put the score at 62-47 with 3:44 remaining. An 10-3 run in the final minutes closed things out in Breckon Sports Center, 72-50.

Perry led the scoring effort this game and the last several contests in 2024 with a 13-point spot tonight.

Following her was Wiggins with nine points, Artis with eight, and Shelby and Spillman with seven each.

Artis did some major work down low for the Pirates with 15 rebounds, including nine offensive boards on the glass.

The Pirates only shot 30.2-percent from the field while the Pioneers were up to 38.7-percent.

MidAmerica Nazarene shot nine-of-28 from beyond the arc or 32.1-percent, while the Pirates were three-of-11 at 27.3-percent.

Park had more opportunities at the line at 15-of-25 for the game compared to the Pioneers' 15-of-21.

Turnovers were a problem for both sides, 23 for Park and 18 for the Pioneers, and both teams used that to generate offense with 19 points apiece off of those turnovers.

Park will be on the road in their next Heart matchup with William Penn University on Saturday, January 20 at 2pm. WATCH
Box Score