(Mesa, AZ) The Park University Gilbert women’s basketball team had its six-game winning streak halted by Simpson University 76-68 at Bell Bank Park in Mesa, Ariz., Sunday evening. The Buccaneers had climbed back to sixth place in the Cal Pac, but now have to restart its march to attempt to earn one of the berths to the conference tournament. Park is now 8-11 overall and 6-7 in conference. Simpson moves to 15-8, 12-3.
Poor shooting which plagued the Bucs during its losing streak earlier in the year reared its ugly head again as they only shot 35 percent from the floor for the game.
The Bucs kept things close early on as they held a one point lead after the first period despite the fact Simpson shot 65 percent from beyond the arc in the frame,
Simpson came out firing in the second quarter and took the game over. With Park leading 27-25,, Simpson went on a 17-0 run before the Bucs would get on the board again. The Redhawks never looked back and took an 11-point lead into halftime.
Things did not improve coming out of the half as Redhawks increased its advantage to 18 after three. The Bucs did not give up, dialing up the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter forcing 10 Redhawk turnovers and cutting the lead down to as low as six; but could not get any closer as Simpson made its free throws down the stretch and finished with an eight-point win.
Jayla Reliford led the Bucs with 17 points and six assists. She also pulled down five rebounds which was second on the team for the game. Senior Macy Markus scored 15 points on her senior night. Madison Chappell (13) and Kiana Turenne (10) each scored in double digits.
Park Gilbert finishes the month of January 6-2 and looks to return to its winning ways as they travel to northern California to take on Pacific Union on Friday, February 3 and Cal Maritime on Sunday, December 5. The Bucs defeated these two teams by 51 and 34 points respectively early in January.
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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