(Peru, Neb.)—The Peru State women's basketball fell to the Park Pirates by 64-61 on Monday night. The Bobcats are now 6-12 overall and 2-10 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play while the Pirates are now 4-13 overall and 2-10 in conference play.
Below is a breakdown of how the game went…
It was a struggle for both teams in the early going as the Bobcats had an early 5-4 lead after a
Maddy Duncan (Hamburg, Iowa) jump shot about four minutes into the first quarter. Park and Peru State would be knotted a few times in the first the latest at nine apiece after a Sam Stewart
(Mount Ayr, Iowa) lay-in.
The Pirates then went on an 8-0 run to take a 17-9 lead with little time remaining in the first quarter. Peru State scored once more in the quarter off two free throws from
Danielle Howard (Uniontown, Kan.). Park led 18-11 after one quarter of play.
Natasha Deal (Winnebago) got the scoring started from deep for the Bobcats as they trimmed the lead down to four trailing 18-14 early in the second.
Jescenia Mosley (Shenandoah, Iowa) made it a one possession after a layup to make the score 18-16.
The Pirates then pushed their lead back out to five leading 22-17 with around seven minutes to play in the half. The Bobcats then scored the next four points to make it a one-point game after a layup from Mosley.
Neither team could get much going for the final five minutes of the half as Park would hold on to a slim two-point 26-24 lead.
Park extended its lead right away in the third to get out to a five point 29-24 lead, then an old fashioned three-point play by Howard made it a one possession game as the Bobcats pulled within two trailing 29-27.
The Pirates then went on a 6-2 run to take a 35-29 lead with about seven minutes to play in the third quarter. Peru State then answered with a 6-0 run of its own to tie the game at 35 apiece. Contributing to the run was a basket by
Hailey Ingram (Omaha), Ingram also had a free throw and a three-pointer from Howard that tied the game.
The Bobcats with under two minutes to play in the third quarter took its first lead of the half from an
Olivia Williams (Minneapolis, Minn.) three ball to take a 38-36 lead. Park would eventually take the lead back and head into the final quarter of play up 42-40.
Park started the final quarter on a 11-3 run to take a 53-43 lead extending its lead out to ten with half of the fourth to play.
The Pirates got their lead out to 12 leading 57-45 with four minutes to play, but the Bobcats did not go down without a fight. Howard hit a three to make it a three possession game with two and half minutes to go.
Peru State got the lead down to seven with under a minute to play after Deal and Stewart made layups trailing 59-52 with 44 seconds to play. Howard a little later on hit a three to go down six trailing 61-55 with 17 seconds remaining.
Deal would get the lead down to five after an and-one, but the comeback was too little too late as Park would hold on for the three point 64-61 victory.
Peru State shot 21-of-62 from the floor shooting 33.9%, 6-of-18 from beyond the arc shooting 33.3% and 13-of-19 from the charity stripe shooting 68.4%.
Park shot 18-of-44 from the floor shooting 40.9%, 2-of-15 from deep shooting 13.3% and 26-of-38 from the line shooting 68.4%.
Peru State outscored Park 28-26 in the paint, 15-13 in points off turnovers and 20-13 in bench points.
Leading the way for the Bobcats was Howard with 16 points, Mosley finished with 13 and Deal finished with nine. Mosley had a team high six rebounds and Duncan led the team in steals with three.
Peru State is at home against Mount Mercy on Thursday, January 19. Tip-Off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
