Park University's women's basketball program headed to Oskaloosa, Iowa for a Saturday afternoon game against William Penn University, blowing the game open 70-52 for the win.

Park inches back towards .500 on the year at 8-10 and are now 5-9 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, while the Statesmen are now 3-15 and 2-12 in the Heart.

William Penn picked up the 68-64 win against the Pirates in November at the beginning of conference play, but this time the Pirates came out on top in a big way to even the season series.

Angel Wiggins began the game with some fireworks with the made three-pointer in the opening play of the game. Nevaeh Spillman after a William Penn turnover got the Pirates up 5-0 on a transition layup. Both teams then traded threes, including a great answering shot by Emma Perry, as Park led 8-3 with 8:33 remaining. A minute later the senior Shelby extended the lead to eight points after another three for the Pirates, 13-5. Three straight three-pointers by the Statesmen for a 9-2 run brought the game close with Park out front at the 4:48 mark, 15-14. The Pirates were able to turn the tables completely though with a 12-0 run to make it 27-14 with 1:16 remaining. The Pirates were four-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first quarter to arrive at an 11-point lead going into quarter two, 27-16.

Shelby picked up a bucket early in the second quarter, but both teams would have a stoppage in scoring over a 2:57 period, until William Penn scored at 6:46, 29-18. Spillman would immediately get lay it in in the following possession, which led to another Shelby three-pointer. Both these plays were just the beginning of a greater 12-0 run to go up 41-19. Kate Sokolova had four-points within that stretch for the Pirates. The Statesmen made up some ground before half, but were still down 17 points at the start of the second half, 41-24.

Through the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, both teams were off to a relatively calm start with a 5-4 scoring margin for the Statesmen. Following a Statesmen bucket and a timeout at 5:59 down 45-31, Shelby hit another three-pointer to restore a 17-point advantage. Shelby led the Pirate offense with 16 points and a team-leading four made-three pointers. Another three by Shelby at 4:18 on the clock gave the Pirates a 20point lead, 52-32. The Pirates led by as much as 23 points in the quarter, but took a 57-36 lead to end the quarter.

A couple minutes into the fourth quarter, Sokolova knocked down a three-pointer and then grabbed a steal and a bucket for a five-point swing. Perry and Spillman got in on the scoring run to make it a 30-point lead off of a 9-0 run with 5:57 remaining. The Pirates were in full control despite good fight by William Penn towards the end, and the Pirates soundly defeated the Statesmen, 70-52.

Park shot 39.1-percent from the field, 28.6-percent from three, and 53.3-percent from the strike. Today marked a season-high in made three-pointers with eight for Park. William Penn shot 44.4-percent from the field, 33.3-percent from three-point range, and 70-percent from the free-throw line.

The Pirates nearly had three times the amount of points off of turnovers than the Statesmen with 36 to 13. It was 30 turnovers by the Statesmen to open the door for Park. The Pirates only had eight turnovers themselves.

Park also doubled the second chance points of the Statesmen with 16 compared to eight for William Penn.

Besides Shelby, plenty of scoring went around for the Pirates starters. Wiggins was second in scoring with 13 points and five rebounds, while Perry and Spillman both contributed 12 points. Sokolova off the bench was two points off her career-high with 11 points today.

Spillman joined Wiggins with five rebounds for the day, but Makayla Artis pulled down the team-high with 10 rebounds.

The Pirates will host Baker University on Wednesday, January 24 in Breckon Sports Center at 5:30pm. WATCH
Box Score