Women's Basketball Falls Late to Culver-Stockton at Home

Marshall, Mo., (Feb. 7, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams hosted Culver-Stockton (Mo.) for Court Warming and a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Wednesday evening inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The women's team battled back from a deficit, but fell, 60-55.  The men's team traded leads against the Wildcats, but lost on a last-second shot, 73-72.

The women's game started with the teams trading points early.  Junior Rajone Callahan (Wichita, Kan.) put in a pair of field goals, while Junior Noa Fernandez (Castraneda, Spain) added a basket to help the teams stay tied at 6-6 with just over four minutes played.  Culver-Stockton briefly went on top, 7-6, but MVC followed with a run.  Sophomore Sophie Sullivan (Lombard, Ill.) made a pair of free throws, while Fernandez put in another layup.  Sullivan then sank a pair of three-pointers to finish off a 10-0 run that moved the Vikings in front, 16-7, with less than two minutes to play in the quarter.  Culver-Stockton responded by closing the quarter on a run, outscoring Missouri Valley by a 7-0 margin and closing the gap to 16-14 going into the second quarter.

The Wildcats tied the teams at 16-16 just over one minute into the second quarter, but Senior Blanca Alcalde (Salamanca, Spain) broke the tie moments later with a layup.  Sullivan added another basket one minute later to keep MVC on top, 20-18.  The Wildcats responded with another run, this time outscoring Missouri Valley by a 10-0 margin over a nearly six minute stretch of play to build up a 28-20 lead.  Junior Kiara Williams  (Shawnee, Kan.) ended the Viking drought with a three-pointer, but Missouri Valley went into halftime trailing, 31-23.

Culver-Stockton built up its lead after the break, as it reached double-digits for the first time at 35-25 with just over two minutes played.  Missouri Valley eventually trailed by a 45-27 score at the four-minute mark of the quarter.  Back-to-back three-pointers from Williams and Junior Gia Moore (Independence, Mo.) trimmed the gap to 47-36 going into the fourth quarter.

Missouri Valley continued to work back into the game, as Junior Maddie Ferrara (Hendersonville, Tenn.) started the fourth quarter with a steal, then set up Williams with a jumper.  Moments later, Ferrara sank a three-point shot, and the team trailed, 47-41, with just over one minute played.  Moore continued the run for MVC with a steal and a three-point play.  Moore then added a pair of free throws to cut the CSC lead to 47-46.  An 18-0 run for the team that spanned two quarters was capped by a steal from Moore and a fast-break layup from Alcalde to give the Vikings their first lead since early in the contest, 48-47, with nearly three minutes played in the final quarter.  The Wildcats worked back with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes of play to reclaim the advantage at 54-48.  Missouri Valley came back with another run, as Alcalde and Williams both sank one jumper each, and a Fernandez steal led to a Moore three-point basket to put MVC on top once again, 55-54, near the three-minute mark.  Culver-Stockton held Missouri Valley scoreless through the rest of the game, and finished the contest scoring the final six points between the two teams.  The Vikings fell, 60-55.

Moore led with 18 points to go with five rebounds.  She now sits second all-time in program history with 1,263 points.  Sullivan added 10 points and six rebounds, while Williams scored 10 points off the bench.  Callahan totaled nine rebounds and four points.  Missouri Valley limited Culver-Stockton to 32-percent shooting from the floor and blocked three shots.

Missouri Valley drops to 10-13 overall and 8-11 in the Heart. Culver-Stockton improves to 9-14 on the season and 8-11 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking basketball teams host another Heart doubleheader, Saturday afternoon inside the Burns Athletic Complex against Peru State (Neb.).  Women's game at 2 p.m., followed by the men's game at 4 p.m.  The men's team won the first meeting of the season, back on Dec. 9, in Peru, Neb., 84-81 in double overtime.  The women's team also defeated Peru State, 92-78, in the Dec. 9 meeting.

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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.