You would think on a night where you come within four points to the school record for points in a game, you would be pleased with how things went. But for the Park University Gilbert Women's basketball team, a 116-61 win over Navajo Tech at Arizona Athletic Grounds in Mesa, Ariz., was not the picture-perfect victory.
The Buccaneers jumped out to a 10-0 lead and many thought the route was on early. But the Skyhawks stayed even with the Bucs 12-12 for the remainder of the quarter and the lead was 10 at the end of the first frame.
The Skyhawks continued to find holes in the Buccaneers defense in the second half as the Buccaneers only added three points to its leading margin at the half.
Park Gilbert head coach Ben York was not pleased with the effort of his charges in the first half and gave them a "spirited" talk in the locker room at the half to pick up the pace for the rest of the game.
The team responded with its best offensive output for a quarter and a half in its history. The Bucs held the Skyhawks to 27 points in the second half while putting up 36 points in the third quarter which surpassed the previous record of 35 last year at OUAZ and in 2023 at Pacific Union. Then the Bucs tacked on another 33 points in the fourth quarter to score 66 points for the half which surpassed the record of 63 points last year against Nelson.
Offensively, Park Gilbert received career performances from Allie Cummings who set a career high with 25 points and 8 rebounds. Freshman Symirah Gray also posted a career high with 20 points along with four steals.
Hemani Kalia returned to the starting lineup after missing the last few weeks with an injury. She poured in 11 points and led the team with 7 steals in 20 minutes. Alynna Palacios had 12 rebounds and six steals in 14 minutes.
Off the bench Savannah Pietila posted a career high 13 points, while sophomore Neveah Jishie made her varsity debut with eight points including two three-point baskets. Kiley Bush corralled 11 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass. Overall, Park got 70 points from its bench tonight.
The score could have been even bigger, but the Bucs missed 23 layups and shot 24 percent (12-50) from three-point range.
Defensively, Park forced 45 turnovers and turned those into 56 points.
Up next, the Bucs return to conference play as they hit the road for its next two contests. They travel across the city to take on OUAZ next Thursday, December 11 at 5 p.m. in Surprise, Ariz., before making the sojourn up to Prescott, Ariz., to take on Embry Riddle on Saturday, December 13 at 1 p.m.