Women's Basketball Secures Road Win Over Central Methodist

Fayette, Mo., (Nov. 26, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams traveled to Fayette, Mo., for a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader against Central Methodist (Mo.), Tuesday evening.  The Vikings women's team finished out a 72-63 win, while the men's team dropped a high-scoring contest, 92-82.

The first quarter of the women's featured Missouri Valley taking control from the start of play.  The team went on a 14-0 run through the opening seven minutes.  Senior Noa Fernandez (Casteneda, Spain) scored four points, plus three-pointers from both Senior Ylenia Exposito (Tenerife, Canary Islands) and Senior Rajone Callahan (Wichtia, Kan.) made it a 10-0 score with four minutes off the clock.  Another basket from Exposito, followed by a field goal from Sophomore Ricarda Schott (Krefeld, Germany) capped the stretch for MVC, at 14-0.  After Central Methodist scored their first points of the contest near the three-minute mark, Senior Sophie Sullivan (Lombard, Ill.) added a pair of made free throw attempts, and Junior Sara Ortiz (La Roda, Spain) came down with an offensive rebound and a basket late in the quarter.  The Eagles tacked on one more field goal, but Exposito made a final shot before the buzzer and MVC went into the second quarter in front, 10-4.

Scoring in the second quarter began on a three-pointer from Junior Maleigha Landers (Fort Worth, Texas) with more than one minute played.  Central Methodist began to chip away at its deficit over the next stretch, outscoring MVC by an 8-2 margin through a 25-12 score near the six-minute mark.  Freshman D'Ajha Horton (Aurora, Colo.) ended the Viking drought with a pair of field goals, to put the lead at 29-16 midway through the quarter.  The Eagles came back with another run, this time the margin was 12-0 to bring the team into a 29-28 deficit nearing the final minute of play in the half.  Central Methodist tied the teams briefly moments later, but a late basket from Fernandez ended scoring for both teams, and gave MVC a halftime lead, 32-30.

Missouri Valley took control of the game once again, at the start of the third quarter, outscoring the Eagles by an 11-1 margin through more than four minutes of play.  Fernandez, Sullivan, Exposito and Ortiz each had one field goal in the opening three minutes of play, and a Sullivan three-point play put the advantage at 43-31 near the six-minute mark.  The Eagles worked down their deficit to 45-39 over the next three minutes of play.  Exposito answered with a three-pointer, and Fernandez added another basket to finish out scoring in the quarter.  Central Methodist was held scoreless in the final two minutes of play, and the Vikings went into the fourth quarter on top, 50-41.  

The fourth quarter began with three-pointers made by Sophomore Jozelynn Bostick (Centralia, Mo.) and Exposito, to go with a field goal from Fernandez, to stretch the lead out to 58-43 with more than two minutes played.  The Vikings went scoreless over the next two minutes, until a pair of Fernandez free throws put the score at 60-48.  The Eagles tried to work back late, and cut the gap to 64-60 with less than one minute remaining in the game.  However, Missouri Valley made eight of ten free throws in the closing moments of the contest, to secure a 72-63 victory.

Exposito led with 19 points, while Fernandez recorded her first double-double of the season, with a career-high 18 points to go with 10 rebounds.  Ortiz had seven points and ten rebounds.  Missouri Valley held a 44-25 advantage in rebounds and forced 15 turnovers in the game.

The win moves the team to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the Heart.  Central Methodist drops to 4-5 on the season and 1-3 in the conference.

Up next, the men's basketball team travels to Columbia, Mo., for a non-conference game against Columbia (Mo.), Saturday at 2 p.m.  Both teams will be in action Dec. 4, hosting MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) in a Heart doubleheader.  Women's game at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m.

Box Score-Click Here

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.