Park University's women's basketball program delivered its first Heart of America Athletic Conference win of 2024-25 on Wednesday in Baldwin City, Kan., defeating the Baker University Wildcats 65-51.

The Pirates are back to .500 on the year at 3-3 and are 1-2 in Heart play, while the Wildcats are winless within the league at 0-3 and are 1-4 on the season.

Nadiyah Cooper and Jordan Bianco set the tone in the first quarter with seven points in the opening period. The Pirates also were making the most of their time spent at the line with a perfect eight-of-eight in free-throws. After a 6-2 start for the Wildcats, the Pirates stopped the bleeding with and-one's from Paige Scott and Cooper to turn the momentum. Tied 8-8, Cooper gave Park the lead with a jump shot at the 3:28 mark. A three and a layup from Bianco spread the lead to five points with 2:03 to go, 15-10. Kiersten Robbins and Bianco each made a pair of free-throws to close out the quarter, 23-16.

This time Park threw the first punch in the second quarter with a layup from Makayla Artis and a drained three-pointer from Emma Perry to push the lead to 12 points, 28-16. Perry was not silent in the second quarter with her second three moments later at 8:49 to help Park to a 31-18 lead. Baker would not score again until the 6:07 mark at which point the deficit was at 15 points, 35-20. The 15 point lead held up for Park as the game went along, but Kate Sokolova hit from deep to make it an 18-point advantage for Park with 2:36 left in the half, 41-23. It would be a 9-2 run for Baker to salvage a positive out of the quarter, but the Pirates still firmly held a 43-32 lead.

Baker did what they could to get the game within eight points, but Cooper stepped up in a big way, starting with a three-pointer at the 8:11 mark to get back to a double-digit lead, but this was only the start of a 7-0 Park run all courtesy of Cooper.

As both sides transitioned to the fourth quarter, an and-one by Artis led to the largest lead of the game at 19 points for Park. This would wrap up the game nicely for Park, a game that would only have two ties and two lead changes from the first quarter. Park outscored Baker in each quarter, except the fourth quarter and that was only by two points, leading to the final of 65-51 for Park.

Park and Baker both were at 32-percent shooting from the field, but a difference was in three-point shots as Park was five-of-17 while Baker was at two-of-17.
The Pirates also edged the Wildcats in free-throws at 22-of-25 to 17-of-24.

Park had 10 more rebounds than the Wildcats, including to seven more offensive rebounds that equated to nine more second chance points. Artis played a big role in this with five offensive rebounds.

Baker only had two more turnovers, but the Pirates converted that into seven more points off of turnovers.

A shocking number is that Baker did not have a single point from the bench, while the Pirates had contributions up and down the lineup with 24 bench points.

Cooper led Park with 17 points, while Perry and Bianco were knotted up at 11 each. These three accounted for four of the five three-pointers as well. Sokolova had the other trey and earned seven points on the evening.

Artis also had seven points and was a beast at the rim with 18 rebounds, which matches her career-high from her sophomore season against Graceland.

Park will be back in action against William Penn University on Saturday, November 23 at 2pm in Breckon Sports Center. WATCH
Box Score