The Park University Gilbert women's basketball team played the second of two straight games against Division I competition in the northwest, tonight facing off with the favorite to win the Big Sky Conference, Idaho State.  The Buccaneers acquitted themselves well against another NCAA Tournament team from a year ago, but fell to the Bengals 109-56 at Reed Gym in Pocatello, Idaho.

The first quarter saw the Bucs take a quick lead behind a three-point shot by Macy Markus and a short jumper by Destinee Vigil. The Bengals then went on a 10-0 run to take a 13-5 lead and never looked back as they outscored the Bucs 25-11 in the first frame. What hurt Park in the first quarter and throughout the game was turnovers.  The Buccaneers committed 31 turnovers for the game and turned it over 12 times in the first quarter which led to 15 Bengal points.

The second quarter saw Park Gilbert go toe-to-toe with the Big Sky favorite playing the quarter to a 21-21 draw in points.  Jayla Reliford had six points in the quarter and Anna Poe added five points to lead the Buccaneers offense in the quarter.  The Buccaneers lonely turned it over six times in the stanza which kept ISU from running and getting easy points on the break. The Bucs only trailed by 14 points at the half 46-32.

The second half saw a different Idaho State team take the floor.  The Bengals shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half and 55 percent from beyond the arc which led to 63 second half points and the most points scored against a Buccaneer team in their history.  La Verne scored 105 points in a double overtime loss to the Bucs back in 2019.

The Bengals made 14 three-point shots on the night but dominated the Bucs in the paint with 6-3 center Kendyl Abel in early foul trouble, scoring 54 points in the paint with 19 offensive rebounds which led to 19 second chance points.

For the Buccaneers, Markus led the team in scoring with 13 points followed by Reliford with 10 points and four rebounds which was tied for the team lead along with Poe and Kayla Schroeder. Elise Young was held in check, only taking one shot on the night for two points, only the fourth time in her career she did not score in double digits in a game.

Park shot 34.5 percent from the floor for the game and 35.7 percent from three-point range.  The Buccaneers, who had been forcing an average of 31 turnovers a game, only forced the Bengals into 11 turnovers on the night.

The Bucs now will step down a level to face NCAA Division II opponents Colorado State-Pueblo and Colorado Mesa next Friday and Saturday November 19-20 in the Al Kaly Classic at Colorado State-Pueblo. The game with CSU-Pueblo starts at 5 p.m. MST on Friday, with the matchup with Colorado Mesa commencing at 1 p.m.