The Park University Gilbert women's basketball team dropped a neutral site contest to (RV) Southern Oregon this afternoon 87-67 at the Oregon Tech Classic in Klamath Falls, Ore. The Buccaneers fall to 2-3 on the season with two of three defeats to ranked opposition.
The Buccaneers a currently fighting the injury bug as they have five players who are playing through injury or did not make the road trip, including one of their top scorers in Hemani Kalia and one of the players who was expected to be a big scoring piece in Jacie Bunck.
Park-Gilbert got off to a slow start from the field, going 4-11 in the first quarter although they did shoot a healthy 3-7 from three-point range. Southern Oregon however doubled the three-point scoring, going 6-8 from long range and 10-16 from the floor. This put the Buccaneers in a deficit they would not be able to overcome.
The Bucs saw some of the same struggles in the second stanza as they went 5-20 from the field, while the Raiders would make 10-18 shots. This led to a 29-point halftime deficit.
The Buccos did not hold their heads in the second half and outscored the Raiders 43-34, including a 30-15 fourth quarter.
Park shot 44 percent from the floor in the second half, including 38 percent from three-point rang which allowed them to cut into the Raider lead and build some much need confidence heading into the future.
Individually, the Bucs were led in scoring by freshman Symirah Gray and junior Yuli Garcia with 16 and 14 points respectively. The two players combined to shoot 13-17 from the floor and 4-6 from three. This is the second time in five games Gray has led the Bucs in scoring. to open her career. Garcia, the Bucs point guard, led the team with four assists.
 Junior center Jelissa Julmist had six rebounds to pace the squad. Alynna Palacios who was second in the nation in steals per game a year ago had five swipes in this game.
The Bucs return to the court tomorrow afternoon as they take on host No. 15 Oregon Tech at 4 p.m. Arizona time to close out the OIT Classic.
