The Park University women's basketball program was up for the challenge against Peru State College on Saturday, holding the lead late in the game for the 65-61 win.

Park improve to 13-8 on the season and now has won three straight in Heart of America Athletic Conference play at 10-7. Peru State drops to 4-13 in conference and 6-15 on the season.

It was a blitz to say the least for Park in the early going with an 11-0 run through the first 3:11 of the game. Three three-point plays in a row for Park created the spark, as Paige Scott and Emma Perry nailed treys. Scott came back for an and-one after that to get to the 11-point mark. Peru State had a sluggish start with six turnovers and only shooting 3-of-12. After a Bobcat bucket, Perry, Nevaeh Spillman, and Nadiyah Cooper contributed a 5-0 run to extend the lead to 16-2. In the remaining minute in the first quarter, Peru State started to get some traction with a 5-2 run to close the quarter, 18-7.

Whatever Head Coach Mike Sybrant said to the Bobcats squad worked and a 9-2 run, including two made threes, made it a 20-17 game with 6:38 to play in the second quarter. Perry responded well with a three-pointer to get back a multi-possession lead, but a 5-0 run by Peru State would tie the game for the first time. Under three minutes, Marina Perdiguero made a layup and sank a free-throw to make it 27-24. Both sides finished the quarter with two additional points and went into halftime, 29-26. Spillman did the honors with the quarter's last points to give her eight for the half.

The third quarter began with a couple Bobcat turnovers and Perry took advantage of the extra possession with a jumper. Park got back to attacking the rim and Makayla Artis drew contact for two made free-throws and Perry drove in for a layup for a 6-0 start to the third quarter, 35-26. Two made three-pointers and a free-throw for Peru State amounted to a 7-0 run and it was back to one possession at 35-33. While Park's Artis and Scott got a pair of two-point baskets, Peru State continued to hit their three-pointers with two more big shots to tie the game 39-39. Perry made a free-throw to get the slim lead, but at 3:30 in the third, the Bobcats earned their first lead with a turnaround post-move, 41-40. Neither side relented in this one and we were back to a tie game at the 1:58 mark. Artis had a key offensive rebound and put-back to get the lead back to the Pirates. No separation could be made though, as free-throws by Peru State and Park ended the half, as Destiny Hines gave Park the lead back 47-45.

The fourth quarter began with a 4-0 by Peru State, which included a block by Erison Vonderschmidt that led to a transition bucket for the Bobcats, 49-47. Peru State got to their largest lead of four points, 53-49 after free-throws and a layup. Artis kept Park in it with another offensive rebound and put-back to get it to 53-51. With 6:15 left in the game and down two, Head Coach Norman Cooper decided to call timeout to regroup with the homestretch still to go. After a third quarter of no three-pointers for Park, the combo of Scott and Perry struck gold from behind the line with back-to-back three-pointers. The 6-2 run pushed Park back out front 57-55 with 4:50 to play. A couple made free-throws by Cooper and a layup by Artis, off of a nice feed by Scott, restored a 61-58 lead with 2:14 to play. Peru State was in the bonus with 1:07 to play, only one free-throw was made by the Bobcats after a Pirate foul and Park clung to the 2-point lead with a minute left to play. Jordan Bianco had a big drive to draw a foul and made both free-throws to give Park a four-point lead with 39 seconds left, 63-59. A miss on the other end and subsequent fouls put Cooper at the line and made both free-throws to give some breathing room at 65-59. This would about do it, as Park outlasted the Bobcats, 65-61.

As a team Park shot 30.2-percent from the field and was five-of-19 from three, while Peru State shot 37.9-percent at seven-of-24.

Park got to the line 33 times and made 22 free-throws, while Peru State was 10-of-16.

Park had 53 rebounds on the day, over 20 more than Peru State.

Turnovers ended up being near even, 15 for Peru State and 16 for Park. The Bobcats earned five more points off of those turnovers than Park's 16 points.

Park got its fill of second chance points though with nine more than Peru State with 17 for the day.

The Bobcats also had 10 more bench points than Park.

There were 12 lead changes and seven ties in this contest.

Perry led Park with 18 points on seven-of-18 from the field and had a team-leading three made threes. Next in scoring was Artis with 12 points, but her outstanding rebounding effort gave her a double-double with 18 rebounds.

Scott and Spillman also were in double-figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Spillman was one of the more reliable free-throw shooters today at four-of-four, while Bianco and Hines were also perfect from the stripe.

Cooper led Park with four assists and co-led with Artis with three steals.

Spillman and Perry cleaned the glass well with seven and six rebounds apiece.

The Pirates will host MidAmerica Nazarene University on Wednesday evening at 5:30pm. The Pirates invite fans to wear black for The Blackout Gazette Game. Wednesday will also be a Faculty Appreciation Night. WATCH
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