The Park University women's basketball program continued Heart of America Athletic Conference play on Wednesday with Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo. The Vikings held the lead the entirety of the contest for the 80-55 win over Park.

The five-game winning streak that closed out 2024 has unfortunately been replaced by two consecutive conference losses to begin 2025 and the Pirates are in the No. 8 spot in the Heart with three games separating them from No. 9 Peru State. Park has a 6-6 conference record and are still over .500 on the season at 9-7. The Vikings are No. 4 in the Heart and only have three losses in conference at 8-3 and 12-3 overall.

The game began with a 6-1 run for the Vikings. Emma Perry answered with a three-pointer to make it 6-4 with 7:41 in the first quarter. The Pirates would hit a dry spell and not score again until the 2:57 mark with another trey by Perry. At this point Missouri Valley had built up a sizeable lead at 17-7, which in the end was a tough start to overcome by Park. Another three-pointer by Perry and a combined four points for Kate Sokolova and Marina Perdiguero ended the quarter at 22-15.

A 5-0 run began the second quarter for Missouri Valley, but Paige Scott and Makayla Artis came back around at the six minute mark with a 5-0 run to get back to single digits, 29-22 with 5:22 to go in the half. Two sets of Viking free-throws and a three-pointer made four 14 points of separation with 3:34 left, 36-22. The two forwards, Perdiguero and Kiersten Robbins went for back to back buckets to make it 36-26 at 1:52 on the clock. Missouri Valley tacked one more score on and led 38-26 at the half.

The Pirates rallied in the third quarter with a 7-0 charge, starting with a three by Scott and then two consecutive scores by Artis to bring Park within five, 38-33. It was a good show by both sides as the quarter went on, as Perry and Nadiyah Cooper made plays to keep the score within 2-3 possessions, 45-40 with 4:44 to play. An 8-0 run ensued on two Viking threes to move back into a comfortable 13-point lead with 1:44 to go, 53-40. Cooper and Jordan Bianco put up four points to end the quarter, but the Vikings countered with a six points on a last second three-pointer as the third quarter expired, 59-44.

The Vikings separated themselves further with a 7-0 run to begin the final period and soon would work themselves into their largest lead of 28 points with 4:01 remaining. The Vikings outscored Park by 10 points in the final quarter and shot 50-percent from the field in the fourth quarter and were seven-of-eight from the stripe. On the other side, things would not drop for the Pirates at 25-percent from the field in the fourth quarter and were only two-of-eight in their free-throws.

For the game, the Pirates shot 30-percent from the field to Missouri Valley's 45-percent. The Pirates were not too far behind Missouri Valley in threes at six-of-19 to the Vikings nine-of-24. Park was only 13-of-22 from the line, while the Vikings were 17-of-22 as well.

The Pirates outrebounded Missouri Valley by five, 43 to 38. Offensive rebounding especially favored Park at 14 to eight for Missouri Valley.

Second chance points were even at nine, but the Vikings had 12 more points off turnovers on a turnover differential of only four with Park.

Perry nearly reached a double-double with 16 points and eight boards.

Artis was close to scratching double-figure scoring at nine points, but no other Pirate scored above that mark. Sa'Yere Banks came off the bench for seven points to match Scott's numbers. Scott also was finding openings in the defense with seven assists on the night.

The Pirates face Mount Mercy University on Saturday, January 11 at 12pm in Breckon Sports Center next. WATCH
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