Women's Basketball Uses Career Night From Moore in Win Over William Penn

Marshall, Mo., (Dec. 2, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams welcomed in William Penn (Iowa) into the Burns Athletic Complex Saturday afternoon for a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader.  The women's team used a record-breaking performance to earn an 87-63 win, while the men's team came back from a deficit to hold off the Statesmen late in an 81-79 victory.

The women's game started with William Penn going in front early, 4-0.  The first field goal of the contest for Missouri Valley came nearly three minutes into play, on a three-pointer from Junior Rajone Callahan (Wichita, Kan.) to tie the teams at 4-4.  William Penn briefly went back on top, 5-4, but the Vikings followed with a run.  Sophomore Sophie Sullivan (Lombard, Ill.) made a layup, followed by a three-pointer from Moore.  Moore added a jump shot, while Sophomore Tyler Conkright (Ellington, Mo.) put in a three-point shot.  Callahan and Junior Noa Fernandez (Castraneda, Spain) each had a layup to cap the run, and gave MVC a 17-5 lead with less than four minutes to play in the quarter.  William Penn chipped away at its deficit through the rest of the quarter, outscoring Missouri Valley by a 6-2 margin to put the score at 19-11 going into the second quarter.

Freshman Jocelynn Thompson (Austin, Texas) made one free throw to start scoring in the second quarter for the Vikings, while Conkright and Moore both put in field goals to stretch the lead out to 24-15 with less than two minutes played.  Thompson added another basket moments later, but the two teams went scoreless over a nearly two minute stretch.  Callahan sank a three-pointer just past the six-minute mark to make it a 29-21 advantage.  William Penn worked back, and eventually trailed, 29-26, midway through the quarter.  Moore followed with a pair of free throws, then added a layup to keep the team in front, 33-26, less than one minute later.  The layup pushed Moore's career point total to 1,000, making her the fifth player in program-history to reach the milestone.  The advantage shrunk to 33-31 with just over three minutes to play in the half, and sat at 36-33 near the two-minute mark.  Moore answered with two-straight three-point shots, then added a layup with under one minute to play to increase the lead to 44-35.  Thompson added one final field goal in the closing moments, and the Vikings went into halftime on top, 46-37.

The third quarter started with Missouri Valley pulling away, as Callahan sank a three-pointer, followed by one layup each from Freshman Ricarda Schott (Krefeld, Germany) and Moore to make it a 53-37 advantage.  William Penn was kept scoreless through the opening three minutes of play, and was outscored by a 15-2 margin through the midway point of the quarter.  Moore put in three-straight field goals to open up a 61-39 lead.  William Penn chipped away at its deficit, which sank to 63-48 with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter.  Junior Maddie Ferrera (Hendersonville, Tenn.) made two free throws, but WPU ended the quarter with a three-pointer to make it a 65-51 score going into the final quarter of play.

Conkright put in the first field goal of the fourth quarter, while Moore added two free throws to set the advantage at 69-55.  Schott scored the next six points for MVC, while Sullivan made two from the free throw line and Schott added another layup to create a 79-59 lead at the midway point of the quarter.  A basket from Moore with just over two minutes to play resulted in point No. 36, which set a new program record for most points in a single game, and kept the Vikings on top, 85-63.  Fernandez finished off the contest with one more basket, and Missouri Valley won, 87-63.

Moore led with a career-high and new program single-season record of 36 points on 14 of 26 shooting.  She added seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.  She now has 1,024 points in her career at Missouri Valley.  The previous single-game record was set by Deidra McCoy back on Feb. 22, 2017 with 35 points in a game against Clarke (Iowa).  Callahan added 13 points and Schott scored 10 points to go with six rebounds.  Missouri Valley limited William Penn to 38-percent shooting from the floor, and held a 45-39 edge in rebounds.

The win puts Missouri Valley at 7-1 on the season, and 5-0 in the Heart.  This is the best start in conference play for the program since 2000.  William Penn falls to 2-8 overall and 1-5 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking basketball teams travel to Parkville, Mo., for a Heart doubleheader against Park (Mo.), Wednesday.  Women's game at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m.

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About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.