(Lake Whales, FL) A yeoman’s effort from an injury depleted Park University Gilbert women’s basketball team could not overcome another poor fourth quarter performance as the Buccaneers squandered a 13-point lead and lost on a last second shot to Ave Maria 71-70 in the Warner Classic in Lake Wales, Fla. The loss increases the longest losing streak in school history as the Bucs end its non-conference schedule. The Buccaneers are now 2-9 overall on the season.
The Bucs played as though their hair was on fire as the first and second each had multiple heroes. In the first, Macy Markus led the way with seven points, while Jazmyne Jenkins had six points and three rebounds and Jayla Reliford had five points and four assists. Park shot almost 60 percent from the floor (58.8). The Buccos only led by five at the first intermission as the Gyrenes also shot 50 percent from the floor, but seven turnovers turned into eight Buccaneer points.
The second quarter saw the Bucs come out slowly as Ave Maria went on a 9-3 run to start the quarter to take a one-point lead 28-27. This would be the last lead they would have in the half as the Bucs would outscore the Gyrenes 15-5 the rest of the way to take a nine-point lead 42-33 into halftime. The Bucs shooting percentage dropped as you would expect, but they still shot a respectable 47 percent for the quarter. Reliford led Park with five points, but the Bucs received four points each from Jenkins, Markus and freshman Sophie Scott. Jenkins also added six more rebounds to her total to give her nine for the game.
The third quarter saw the Bucs increase its advantage to 13 as they outscored the Gyrenes 20-16. Kayla Schroeder paced the Bucs with eight points and Madison Chappell added six. Jenkins continued her strong play with four more points and three more rebounds as she posted her third double-double of the season.
For the second game in a row, the Bucs took a lead into the fourth quarter and for the second game in a row a poor fourth quarter performance cost the Buccaneers. Park Gilbert only managed to score eight points in the final frame, while Ave Maria scored 22. The Gyrenes went on a 10-0 run to start the period before the Bucs scored a basket. Then after AMU was able to take the lead, 69-68, Markus answered with a layup to give the Bucs a one-point lead with 1:53 to go. Yesterday, the Bucs would not score over the last 2:49 of the contest. Today, they would not score again after the Markus basket.
After a missed Schroeder three which would have iced the game, Ave Maria called a time out with 10 seconds to go. Their offensive set out of the time out got the good look from three-point range for their best shooter Allison Fifield. Fifield had already made five three-pointers on the afternoon, but this effort was too strong. The long rebound was grabbed by Abby Phipps who then hit a running 15-foot shot with .5 second left on the clock. There was still time for the Bucs to pull out a miracle of their own as they called time out and were able to advance the ball to half court. Every team practices this situation and has multiple plays to go to in order to get a shot off with minimal time on the clock. As the Bucs started to run its play, it looked as though they were trying to run a play to get the ball in the hands of Schroeder, their best shooter. But as she was trying to break free, she ran into an Ave Maria defender and was called for an offensive foul. After the Gyrenes were able to safely inbound the ball, the clock ran out and the Bucs could only dream of what could have been as they lost for the ninth time in a row.
Jenkins had 14 points and tied the school record with 18 rebounds, tying the mark set in the first year of the program by Jakaree Harris. Jenkins also set the school record for defensive rebounds with 14 which broke Harris’ record of 12. Reliford had 10 points and 10 assists, the third game this season where Reliford tied her school record for assists. Markus led the Bucs with 17 points. Schroeder backed up her 22-point performance yesterday with 13 points and eight rebounds today.
The Buccaneers do not have a lot of time to lick their wounds as after they fly back across the country tomorrow, they jump right back into conference play as they travel to Prescott, Ariz., to take on Embry Riddle on Tuesday, January 3. The Bucs will then return home to face Pacific Union and Cal Maritime Thursday and Friday, January 5 and 6.
Press Release courtesy of Park University – Preston English
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