Women's Basketball Suffers Defeat to No. 11 MidAmerica Nazarene

Olathe, Kan., (Feb. 5, 2025)-The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams went to Olathe, Kan., for a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader against MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), Wednesday evening.  The women's team fell to the No. 11 Pioneers, 76-67, while the men's team suffered an 82-61 defeat.

The women's game opened with Missouri Valley taking an early lead, as a pair of baskets from Sophomore Ricarda Schott (Krefeld, Germany) made it a 4-0 score with just over one minute off the clock.  MidAmerica Nazarene worked back to tie the score at 5-5, with one field goal each from Senior Noa Fernandez (Castaneda, Spain) and Schott to put MVC back in front, 9-8, midway through the quarter.  Senior Gia Moore (Independence, Mo.) followed with a three-pointer, and Freshman D'Ajha Horton (Aurora, Colo.) added a basket at the four-minute mark to break a tie, and put the Vikings ahead, 13-11.  The Pioneers briefly held a 15-13 lead, less than one-minute later, and another Schott basket tied the score at 15-15 with less than three minutes remaining.  MidAmerica Nazarene scored the next five points to hold a late lead, while a last-second field goal from Horton cut the Viking gap to 20-17 going into the second quarter.

The first made basket of the second quarter came more than one minute into play, from Horton, and Moore sank a shot just past the eight-minute mark to bring MVC to within a 22-21 deficit.  Missouri Valley went nearly four minutes without another field goal, trailing, 29-24.  Freshman Selani Relford (Aurora, Colo.) ended the drought on a three-pointer to make it a 29-27 score with four minutes remaining in the half.  The Pioneers responded with a 7-0 run over the next three minutes to build up a 36-27 lead.  Horton closed scoring in the quarter with a made shot in the final 30-seconds, and Missouri Valley went into halftime behind, 36-29.

A pair of field goals in the first minute of play to start the third quarter, from both Horton and Schott, shrunk the gap down to 38-33.  The Pioneers responded to build up a double-digit lead near the eight-minute mark, 43-33.  Missouri Valley chipped away at its deficit over the next three minutes, as Senior Rajone Callahan (Wichtia, Kan.) made a pair of free throws, Senior Ylenia Exposito (Tenerife, Canary Islands) added a field goal, and Schott put in another shot to make it a 49-42 score midway through the quarter.  MidAmerica Nazarene extended its lead back to double-digits, 55-44, with less than four minutes to play in the quarter.  The Vikings were unable to close the gap, and trailed, 60-48, as the quarter came to an end.

Play in the fourth quarter started with MNU extending its advantage to 63-48, with less than one minute off the clock.  Schott answered with two-straight field goals, and Horton added a basket to pull back to a 63-54 score less than one minute later.  The two teams traded points until a three-pointer from Sophomore Jozelynn Bostick (Centralia, Mo.) put the deficit at 68-61 near the three-minute mark.  Bostick added another three-point shot late in the half, but MidAmerica Nazarene defeated Missouri Valley, 76-67.

Schott finished with 19 points, to go with six rebounds and five assists., while Horton added a career-high 18 points.  Missouri Valley held a 41-38 advantage in rebounds, and forced 12 turnovers, with seven blocks in the game.

The loss drops Missouri Valley to 18-5 overall and 14-5 in the Heart.  MidAmerica Nazarene improves to 22-2 on the season and 20-0 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking basketball teams host Clarke (Iowa) in a Heart doubleheader, Saturday, inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  Women's game at 12 p.m., followed by the men's game at 4 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.