Women's Basketball Drops Road Game at No. 5 Clarke

Dubuque, Iowa, (Feb. 17, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams traveled to Dubuque, Iowa, Saturday afternoon, for a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader against Clarke (Iowa).  The women's team fell to the No. 5 Pride, 92-77.

The women's game opened with a pair of early field goals from Junior Rajone Callahan (Wichita, Kan.) to put Missouri Valley in front, 4-2, with one minute off the clock.  Clarke came back with five-straight points to pull ahead, 7-4, just over two minutes later.  Sophomore Sophie Sullvan (Lombard, Ill.) ended the MVC drought with a layup, and Junior Noa Fernandez (Castraneda, Spain) tied the teams at 9-9 with a three-pointer at the six-minute mark.  The Vikings fell into a 13-9 deficit, but Callahan added another layup to cut into the gap over the next two minutes of play.  Sullivan added another layup, while Junior Gia Moore (Independence, Mo.) sank a three-pointer to give the Vikings another lead, 16-15, with under three minutes to play in the quarter.  Callahan and Fernandez each added one layup to put the advantage at 20-17 with less than two minutes on the clock.  The Pride ended the quarter with four-straight points, and held a 21-20 lead going into the second quarter.

Scoring in the second quarter started quickly after the restart, as Callahan added another basket to move MVC on top, 22-21.  Missouri Valley went scoreless over the next three minutes of play, and sat in a 26-22 deficit.  Sophomore Mackenize Mann (Oak Grove, Mo.) ended the drought with a basket to bring the team into a 26-24 score with just over four minutes played.  Sullivan put the gap at 28-26 two minutes later on a layup, but CU closed the half with a run.  Clarke outscored the Vikings by a 14-1 margin over the final four minutes of the quarter, and MVC trailed at halftime, 42-27.

Clarke started the third quarter with a quick basket, but Callahan followed with three-straight field goals to put Missouri Valley in a 44-33 deficit with nearly three minutes played.  Junior Kiara Williams (Shawnee, Kan.) added a field goal moments later, and Callahan made her fourth shot of the quarter as the team trailed, 51-37, midway through the third.  The two teams traded points over the final stretch of play, as Moore made a late jump shot to put the deficit at 60-45 going into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter featured the Pride eventually working out to a 71-55 lead with three minutes off the clock.  Moore came back with a pair of free throws and a layup less than one minute later to make it a 71-59 score.  The Vikings played even with CU over the next stretch, which featured four points from Sullivan and a three-point play from Fernandez midway through the quarter.  Another pair of free throws from Moore and a Senior Blanca Alcalde (Salamanca, Spain) basket cut the gap to 80-70 with just over three minutes to play.  Missouri Valley could never work back to a single-digit deficit late in the game, and fell by a final score of 92-77.

Moore led with 22 points and seven rebounds.  Callahan added 20 points and seven rebounds, while Sullivan finished with 10 points.  Missouri Valley shot over 49-percent from the field and totaled 10 second-chance points.

The loss drops Missouri Valley to 12-14 on the season and 10-12 in the Heart.  Clarke improves to 25-1 overall and 21-1 in the conference.

Up next, the Vikings host Park (Mo.) in a Heart doubleheader, Wednesday evening, inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  Women's game at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m.  These are the final home games of the regular season for the basketball programs.

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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.