Park University's women's basketball program returned to Breckon Sports Center on Claude English Court for the Remy Williams Memorial Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The Pirates hosted No. 11 Georgetown College and then turned around with a game against William Woods University on Saturday.

Park begins the year 1-1, taking on Mid-South Conference and at NAIA Top 25 opponent in Georgetown. Georgetown is now 2-1 on the year, falling on day two of the tournament to (RV) MidAmerica Nazarene University. William Woods of the American Midwest Conference lost both of their games at the tournament to start the year 0-2.

Georgetown College Box Score | L, 51-82
The Pirates gave a scare to Georgetown in the first quarter, matching the Tigers possession for possession and led 17-15 at the end of the first quarter. It was a great welcome to Park moment for Nadiyah Cooper who got Park on the board with the first five points of 2024 with a three-pointer and layup to get her team out front with the lead, 5-2. Four lead changes happened in the first quarter alone with the final lead change occurring at the end of the quarter on a lay-in by Cooper to give her nine points in the first quarter.

Park stayed tight with the Tigers in the second quarter for the first four minutes, but at 5:41, the Tigers got a 4-point and then extended to six points at 4:51. Georgetown shot 50-percent from the floor in the second quarter compared to only two-of-11 for Park, and the Tigers regained control at halftime with a 13-point lead.

The largest lead for Georgetown got up to 36, as they did not relent in the second half for an 82-51 win.

Park was 30.8-percent from the floor for the game, while the Tigers were at 47.3-percent. Four more made three-pointers came in for Georgetown than Park as well, as Cooper's three to begin the game was the only three-pointer that dropped for Park on the day.

Rebounds were about even for both teams and Park even had one extra offensive rebound with 13 compared to the Tigers.

The Tigers also got to the line more at 25-of-38 from the stripe, while Park only had at a higher percentage had less opportunities at 18-of-26.

Eight more turnovers plagued the Pirates, while Georgetown generated 13 more points from the bench as well.

Cooper contributed a team-leading 14 points, while Makayla Artis and Nevaeh Spillman each recorded eight-point games. Artis was also the team-leader in rebounds with seven in her balanced performance.

William Woods Box Score | W, 53-47
The Pirates averaged 11 points in each of the first two quarters and were tied at the half with the Owls, 22-22. The first quarter featured an 8-0 run by the Pirates to give them an 11-4 lead. Four different Pirates contributed in that stretch, including a three-pointer by Emma Perry. In the last minute in a half though, the Owls had a 6-0 run to make it 11-10 at the quarter's end.

The Owls were two-of-five from three-point range in the second quarter, amounting to half of their second quarter points. As a whole Park was only able to shoot five-of-15 from the field in the second quarter and one-of-four in their free-throws. Both teams were having concerns controlling the ball with six turnovers for the Pirates and nine turnovers for the Owls in the second quarter alone.

Coming out of halftime at 22-all, a 5-0 run sprung on by Perry's three-pointer gave the Pirates a 4-point lead at 5:44 and Park would eventually lead by five points on a Kiersten Robbins jumper at the 3:32 mark. William Woods prevented much separation and still came within one-point to end the third quarter, 31-30.

It was the biggest scoring quarter for the Pirates with 22 points to the Owls' 17. Perry and Cooper led the way with 11 and seven fourth quarter points. It was still back-and-forth in the early going of the quarter, but the Pirates gained a little more ground with a seven-point lead following a 4-0 run at the 4:38 mark on two free-throws by Paige Scott, 43-36. This would be the largest lead of the day for Park, but it would hold till the end of regulation, as Park never lost the lead for the 53-47 win.

Park shot 32.1-percent from the field to William Wood's 38.3-percent. Both teams were under 20-percent from three, with only five total three-pointers made in the game.
Park got it done from the free-throw line though with 15-of-23, while the Owls had points left on the floor at eight-of-18 of the same.

Park took care of the ball better in the end as well with 18 turnovers compared to 24 for the Owls, which amounted to 10 more points off of turnovers.

Perry finished the day with 18 points, while Cooper crossed the finish line with 13 points. This combo also led Park in assists with four and three, respectively.

Park was relentless on defense with 18 steals and each of the starters had multiple steals in the game.

Another seven-rebound game and she had another seven points for Park, while the sophomore, from Kansas City, Mo., Spillman had an identical seven-point seven rebound performance.

The Pirates will host Bethel University (Kan.) on Saturday, November 9 at 2pm in Breckon Sports Center in their next non-conference action. WATCH