Park University's women's basketball program were unable to overtake Missouri Valley College on the road in Marshall, Mo. on Wednesday night, falling 88-74.

At 11-16 on the season and 8-15 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play, Park has been eliminated from playoff contention. Missouri Valley moves into 13-14 on the year and a 11-12 conference record.

The senior guard, Angel Wiggins has been playing at her best in her last three games, scoring over 20 points in each game. Tonight she secured a new career-high in points with 27 on eight-of-13 from the field and was 11-of-12 from the free-throw line.

The lead changed hands twice in the first quarter, as Emma Perry gave the Pirates a one possession lead at the 7:01 mark, 7-5. A three-pointer by Missouri Valley took the lead back though two series later. An 8-0 run gave the Vikings a nine-point lead nearing the end of the first quarter, 18-9. A couple of free throws by Mikayla Artis, and buckets by Wiggins and Perry kept things within reach though as the quarter ended, 22-15.

Back-to-back three-point makes by the Vikings and a free-throw, tacked on a 7-0 run to begin the second quarter, 29-15. The Vikings led by as much as 16 points in the second quarter at the 5:04 mark, 37-21, but the Pirates did a nice job fighting to make up ground and got within single digits to end the half. Park's Iva Drobnjak had seven points in the last five minutes of the second quarter that included a three-pointer to make it a 7-point game at a 1:04 left. A Missouri Valley layup made the spread nine points at halftime though, 43-34.

Six made three-pointers in the third quarter by Missouri Valley really held the Pirates down and gave Missouri Valley its biggest lead of 18 points with 1:19 to play in the third quarter.

Down 18 to begin the fourth quarter, 67-49, the Pirates had their work cut out for them. They did what they could to comeback with 25 fourth quarter points. Shelby had the lone three-pointer in the fourth quarter for Park, while Wiggins was given the reigns with 13 fourth quarter points. In the end, Missouri Valley scored 21 points of their own for a 14-point win, 88-74.

The Vikings shot 53-percent compared to Park's 40.7-percent from the field. 

When a team shoots 10-of-21 from beyond the arc, that's hard to overcome by any team. The Pirates made their living with 40 points in the paint and impressively made 24-of-26 free-throws, while only being two-of-five from three.

Most other categories were relatively even, including turnovers 12 on Missouri Valley and 11 on the Pirates.

Four Pirates were in double-figures tonight. Nevaeh Spillman was behind Wiggins with 14 points. Joining their teammates in double-figure scoring was Drobnjak and Perry with 10 points apiece.

Artis did major work in down on the block with 14 total rebounds. 

Park will have senior day on Saturday, February 24 against Culver-Stockton College at 3pm. Four seniors will be recognized directly before tip-off in Breckon Sports Center, including Angel Wiggins, Taylor Shelby, Julia Jurek, and Jasmin Polk. WATCH
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