Pride use hot start to roll over Park

DUBUQUE, Iowa - In a near mirror image of their previous meeting on Dec. 9, the Clarke University women's basketball team earned a comfortable 10-point win over Park University by a final score of 70-60.

Outscoring the Pirates 28 through three quarters and holding a lead as large as 32 points in the third quarter, the Pride were able to spread out the minutes late in the third and throughout the fourth, seeing no player in the primary rotation playing more than 28 minutes.

That large deficit didn't slow down Park however, as the Pirates rallied back in the fourth quarter, outscoring CU 25-7 in the final 10 minutes of the game as the Pride shot only 3-of-12 (25%) from the field in the fourth with five turnovers and committed nine fouls that led to 10 PU free throws.

Back on Dec. 9, Clarke held a 51-36 lead on Park where the Pirates finished the game outscoring CU 18-8 and making the finish tighter than expected at a 59-54 final score.

On the polar opposite end, the Pride roared out to a huge lead in the first quarter that finished at 28-11 behind a 16-point period from Mya Merschman as the junior went 4-of-5 from the field and perfect 4-of-4 from three point range. 

Merschman would finish the half and the game with a game-high 20 points as three-fourths of the remainder of the starting lineup in Nicole McDermott, Taylor Haase, and Izzie Peterson all finished with 10 points and Maci Kuchta wasn't far behind with eight points on the day.

McDermott finished with a game-high 10 rebounds for a double-double and Kuchta finished with five assists, five rebounds, and three steals with Haase and Merschman both adding six rebounds each.

Park got double figures from the trio of Angel Wiggins (15), Iva Drobnjak (14), and Emma Perry (10) generally struggled from the field (35.2%) and from three point range (20%) despite their strong fourth quarter.

Clarke will remain at home for their next two games starting with a matchup against No. 17 Grand View University in the Kehl Center on Wednesday, Feb. 14 for a 5:30 p.m. CT tip.