(Riverside, CA) The Park University Gilbert women’s basketball team exacted a bit of revenge for a loss a month ago against La Sierra University with a 92-76 win over the Eagles in Riverside, Calif., this evening. With the win, the Buccaneers (6-10, 4-6 Cal Pac) have won four games in a row and have put themselves back in the hunt for a playoff spot in the conference. The Eagles fall to 6-12, 6-5 in conference play.
The Buccaneers did the damage with their starting five, as they scored 90 of the teams 92 points. Sophomore shooting guard Kayla Schroederposted a career high 26 points and sophomore point guard Jayla Reliford had her second career double-double with 13 points and a school record 11 assists.
The first quarter saw both teams scoring with efficient offense as the Bucs shot 50 percent from the floor and the Eagles shot an impressive 64 percent. Despite the higher percentage, LSU only led Park by three at the first intermission.
Park Gilbert started the second quarter with an 8-0 run to take a lead they would never relinquish. Schroeder would score nine and Macy Markuswould add seven of her own in the quarter. The Bucs would turn the three-point first quarter deficit into an eight-point halftime advantage outscoring the Eagles 22-11 in the second stanza.
Another impressive third quarter increased the Bucs lead in the third quarter. Park held LSU to only 10 points in the third quarter while scoring another 21 of its own to increase the lead to 19 heading into final frame. The Bucs led by as many as 23 in the quarter as Markus added another 10 to her total.
Park has had its difficulties putting teams away, allowing opponents to have big fourth quarters while struggling to find the basket themselves. Tonight, the Bucs allowed the Eagles to have a big fourth quarter (32 points), but they were able to answer with 29 points of their own as they cruised home to a 16 points win.
Both teams shot 48 percent from the floor for the contest, but the Bucs broke the game open with nine three-pointers and 31 free throws. Park forced 22 turnovers and turned those into 24 points. They also dominated on the boards, outrebounding the Eagles by 18 (47-29).
Markus was one point short of her season high with 24 points and she added a season high seven rebounds. Madison Chappell was one rebound short of another double-double with 17 points and nine boards and she also added four steals. Jazmyne Jenkins also came close to a double-double wit h10 points and eight rebounds before she fouled out. Schroeder and Reliford added five rebounds each.
The Buccaneers will not have much time to celebrate as they face their stiffest test to see how far they have come in returning to form they expected to have this season. They will face off with first place Antelope Valley tomorrow evening starting at 6:30 p.m. Arizona time. The Pioneers beat the Bucs handily back in December 87-66.
Game Makeup Note:
The Park Gilbert contest versus Westcliff which was postponed due to a power outage in Mesa on January 12 has been rescheduled for Monday, February 13 at 12 p.m. at Bell Bank Park.
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
