A Wednesday evening matchup between the Park University women's basketball team and the Benedictine College Ravens did not land in the Pirates favor. The Pirates found themselves down by a significant margin of sixteen points at halftime, and managed to battle back to within seven points in the fourth quarter, but they ultimately would drop the game by a final score of 74-64. 

This loss finds the Pirates sitting at a record of 4-5 on the year and 2-4 within Heart Conference play. The No. 23 Ravens have yet to drop a game during the season. They currently have an undefeated record of 7-0 overall and 5-0 in conference matchups. 

The Pirates dug themselves into a hole in the opening minutes. Benedictine used all three levels of scoring to take a 10-1 lead before Nadiyah Cooper converted on a third chance scoring opportunity inside the paint for the first Pirate basket of the game. Emma Perry knocked down a three later in the first quarter, but this was all the points the Pirates managed in the first quarter. 

Starting the second quarter up 20-6, Benedictine continued to expand on their lead with consistent three point shooting, and they took their largest lead of the game 30-9 with 6:25 left before halftime. Park would start to battle back with Cooper leading the way with several layups, as she sliced through the Ravens perimeter defense. Nevaeh Spillman couldn't knock down a buzzer beater, and Benedictine went into halftime up 37-21.

The Pirates offense would pick up in the third quarter, scoring more points in that quarter, twenty-two, than they had in the first half, but the Ravens would find the bottom of the net plenty of times as well and still led by sixteen at the end of three. Park would continue to chip away at the lead into the fourth quarter, but the closest they could get narrow the deficit was seven points with 1:45 to go in the game. The Ravens executed down the stretch and walked away with the victory and undefeated season intact. 

The big determining factor in this game was points off of turnovers. Benedictine led Park 27-17 in that margin, and that was reflected in the final score as well. The Ravens also got significantly more production off the bench, getting twenty points from their second unit compared to five points for the Pirates.

The Ravens slightly outrebounded the Pirates overall with twenty-eight total and thirteen offensive rebounds, but the Pirates were slightly better on the offensive side of the boards with sixteen rebounds. 

Cooper and Perry both had big scoring nights for the Pirates with 28 and 24 points respectively, making up the majority of the Pirate scoring. Makayla Artis had her usual, yet impressive performance on the boards with twelve total and five offensive rebounds. 

The Pirates had ten steals as a team and converted them into eight fast break points. 

The Pirates will head on the road to face off against the Peru State Bobcats on Saturday, December 7. The Bobcats currently sit at 4-6 overall and 2-4 in the Heart Conference. WATCH HERE

Box Score

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