The Park University Gilbert women's basketball team returned home and got back on the winning track with a comfortable 83-70 win over La Sierra University this evening at Arizona Athletic Grounds in Mesa, Ariz.
The win was the fifth consecutive win for Park over La Sierra in the series after LSU won the first two matchups in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.
The Bucs found their shooting touch in the friendly home confines of AAG in the first half as they put up 50 points against the Eagles, sparked by a 32-point second quarter. The Bucs shot 48 percent from the field in the half. Allie Cummings had 10 points in the quarter behind three trifectas. Park would hold an 18-point lead heading into intermission.
The Bucs continued to apply the pressure to start the second half building the lead up to as many as 28 points before La Sierra started to turn the Bucs over and would outscore them 23-14 to end the quarter. The Bucs still added to their lead with a 19-point advantage at the end of the third stanza.
Nineteen points has been the average margin of victory for Park-Gilbert over La Sierra in their last four games. But La Sierra showed a lot of fight forcing eight Buc turnovers in the quarter, but they were only able to convert them into six points. LSU outscored the Buc 15-9 in the final frame, but it was not enough as the Bucs would win by double-digits (13) for the fifth consecutive game.
Park had three scorers in double figures led by Allie Cummings with 15. Larken Hoar posted her second consecutive double-digit game with 13 points and freshman Symirah Gray chipped in with 10. Cummings also led the team with six steals.
Alynna Palacios just missed out on a double-double with nine points and a team high 13 boards. Palacios also had five steals and led the team in assists with four dimes.
As a team, the Bucs forced 34 turnovers which is well above their team average of 26.9 which is sixth in the county. The Bucs also added 14 steals.
Offensively, the Bucs sank 11 three-point baskets, shooting 32 percent from beyond the arc and looked more like the team, head coach Ben York has been expecting this season. This is the seventh game this season with 10 or more three-pointers for the Bucs.
The Bucs look to continue their momentum in conference play on Saturday afternoon against Life Pacific University at 1:30 p.m. The game will be played at the Bucs home away from home Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Park went 2-0 at Coyotes Gym last year beating the Master's and Benedictine Mesa.