Park University's women's basketball program secured their second straight Heart of America Athletic Conference win on Saturday in Breckon Sports Center over William Penn, 55-48.

Park is now even in Heart play at 2-2 and are over .500 at 4-3 on the season. William Penn is still winless in Heart play at 0-4 and 1-6 on the young 2024-25 season.
The first quarter featured a combined 10 points from the dynamic duo of Nadiyah Cooper and Paige Scott. Cooper led the charge with six points and Scott was right behind with a four-spot. Both teams traded off two opening buckets for a 4-4 tie, but back-to-back steals by Park led to a 6-0 run, including fastbreak points by Cooper and Kate Sokolova, 8-4. A 6-2 run by William Penn to end the quarter kept the score tied, 14-14.

The Pirates and Statesmen traded opening shots in the second quarter, but Jordan Bianco and Makayla Artis helped Park get some separation with a 4-0 run from 8:54 to 6:36 on the clock, 20-16. Within that span, the Pirates kept good feet defensively and drew two charges by Ramyiah Logan and Alexus Woodard. Cooper then bumped Park up to a six-point lead with a turnaround jumper with 5:22 to go, 22-16. After that there would be a scoring drought until the 2:48 mark, at which point the Statesmen hit a key three-pointer to make it 22-19. Scott in response took on the William Penn defense for back-to-back lay-ins to bring it to a seven-point lead, 26-19. The Statesmen got back within a possession to close out the half with a 6-2 run, 28-25.

The Statesmen gained some momentum in the third quarter with a 5-0 run to tie the game at 32-32 with a three-pointer at 5:40, but Sokolova was quick to respond with a made trey at 5:22 to retake a 35-32 advantage. William Penn nearly got it back with an and-one opportunity, but a lane violation by William Penn helped Park maintain the lead, 35-34. After a pair of free-throws were made by both sides, William Penn took a momentary lead after a layup, 38-37. The Pirates got it back though off of a Sokolova bucket and an Emma Perry layup. This would just be the start of a greater run, as Perry would make three free-throws and Cooper would also attack the rim for a layup to complete a 9-0 run to put Park up 46-38 to end the quarter.

It was a six-point game at the 6:48 mark in the fourth quarter, as only six points were scored in the opening 3:32 of the quarter, 48-42. Cooper and William Pen's Azori Edwards traded buckets to keep a six-point difference with 5:41 to go, 50-44. As the quarter went along, a big time steal and score by Perry rebuilt a seven-point lead with 4:41 to play, 53-46. Neither side was at risk of getting to the bonus with only one team foul to mention at this point in the fourth quarter. Strong defense by the Pirates kept the game in a good position, as William Penn was 0-4 with a turnover from 3:47 to the end of the game, 55-48.

Park shot 41.1-percent from the field to William Penn's 40.8-percent. Neither team lit it up from behind the arc with only a combined three, three-pointers for the game.
Both teams did well from the stripe, Park at eight-of-11 and William Penn a six-of-seven.

A fatal 12 more turnovers were recorded by William Penn compared to Park's 10. This led to 10 more points off turnovers for the Pirates.

The Pirates were led by Cooper with 17 points, six rebounds, four assists. Two other Pirates carried the offensive load, including Perry's 11 points and Scott's 10-point performance.

The rebounding effort was supported by Artis and Perry with six and five rebounds, respectively. These two also led the team in assists with five each.

It was a nice game from Sokolova with nine points and shooting four-of-six from the field.

The Pirates will be back in action on the road on Tuesday, November 26 at 5:30pm in Olathe, Kan. against (RV) MidAmerica Nazarene University. WATCH
Box Score