Women's Basketball Leads Throughout in Win Over Park

Marshall, Mo., (Jan. 8, 2025)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams welcomed in Park (Mo.) for a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Wednesday evening inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The women's team led throughout in an 80-55 victory, while the men's team earned an 76-61 win to complete the doubleheader sweep.

Missouri Valley went on top early in the women's game, as baskets from Senior Gia Moore (Independence, Mo.), Senior Ylenia Exposito (Tenerife, Canary Islands) and Sophomore Ricarda Schott (Krefeld, Germany) made it a 6-1 score with just over two minutes played.  The Vikings reached a double-digit advantage for the first time at 15-4 after a three-pointer from Moore midway through the quarter.  One minute later, Schott added a layup, and MVC held a 17-4 lead.  Park answered with a 9-2 run over the next three minutes of play to cut the deficit down to 19-13.  Freshman Lexi Fenstermacher (O'Fallon, Mo.) made one free throw to end the drought for Missouri Valley, and Senior Rajone Callahan (Wichita, Kan.) came down with an offensive rebound on the following free throw attempt, and added a layup.  The Vikings led, 22-15, going into the second quarter.

Both teams struggled to create points at the start of the second quarter.  Sophomore Gabriela Modeva (Ohrid, Macedonia) posted a block, which led to a three-pointer from Callahan to start scoring, two minutes into play.  Senior Noa Fernandez (Castaneda, Spain) put in a layup moments later, and MVC sat on top, 27-15 with just over two minutes off the clock.  The Vikings went scoreless over a nearly two minute stretch until a Fenstermacher layup stretched the advantage out to 29-18.  The Pirates worked back to a single-digit deficit, 29-22, midway through the quarter.  Exposito answered with a pair of free throws, and a Callahan steal led to a Moore three-pointer to put MVC back on top by double-digits, 34-22, less than one minute later.  The two teams traded points as the first half came to a close.  Junior Sophie Sullivan (Lombard, Ill.) scored the final points of the quarter on a layup, and Missouri Valley went into halftime in front, 38-26.

The third quarter started with Park working back into the game with a 7-0 run through nearly three minutes of play, to make it a 38-33 score.  Exposito followed with a three-pointer, and Callahan added a layup midway through the quarter to put the lead at 43-35.  The Pirates stayed close, and trailed, 45-40 until Schott increased the advantage moments later with a three-pointer, and Callahan made two free throw attempts to stretch the lead out to double-digits once again, 50-40.  Fenstermacher came up with a steal just past the two-minute mark, and Moore made a three-pointer to put the score at 53-40.  Sullivan added a three-point play and Exposito capped scoring with a last-second three-point shot to send MVC into the fourth quarter on top, 59-44.

Both teams opened the fourth quarter on a drought, as the opening field goal came nearly three minutes into play, on a basket from Schott to put the score at 63-44.  Schott added another three-point basket moments later, and Exposito finished off a layup to set the advantage at 68-45 just past the six-minute mark.  Moore added a layup and Schott created a three-point play midway through the quarter to make it a 73-47 lead.  Junior Maleigha Landers (Fort Worth, Texas) added a four-point play as the Vikings continued to pull away.  Missouri Valley eventually finished out an 80-55 victory.

Schott led with the first double-double of the season scoring 19 points, on 7 of 9 shooting from the floor, and coming down with 11 rebounds.  Moore totaled 17 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Exposito had 16 points.  Callahan added 11 points and six rebounds.  Missouri Valley held Park to 30-percent shooting from the floor and forced 13 turnovers.

Missouri Valley improves to 12-3 overall and 8-3 in the Heart.  Park drops to 9-7 on the season and 6-6 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking basketball teams host Graceland (Iowa) in a Heart doubleheader, Saturday afternoon.  Women's game starts at 2 p.m., followed by the men's game at 4 p.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex.

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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.