The Park University Gilbert women's basketball team rode 54 percent shooting from the field and 57 percent from beyond the arc to defeat an overmatched Bethesda California team 86-23 tonight at The PHHacility in Phoenix, Ariz. With the win, the Bucs upped their record to 7-4.  The 63-point margin of victory is the largest in Park Gilbert history.

"We did what we needed to today," said Park Gilbert head coach Jeff Fore.  "We still have some things we can clean up, but I was pleased to see how we shot it tonight."

Junior forward Macy Markus led the way setting a new career high for points, scoring 27.  She shot 7-11 from three-point range and made four of her six free throws. Freshman Kayla Schroeder scored 13 points and hit on three of her four attempts from long range.

Bethesda (0-18) came into the game winless but made some early baskets as the Buccaneers and Flames were knotted at 7-7 early in the game before the Buccaneers went on an 18-4 run to end the first quarter.  This carried over to the second quarter where the Bucs held the Flames to only two points.  Two points is the lowest point total for a Bucs opponent in a quarter. The 13 points Bethesda scored in the first half is also the lowest total for a Bucs opponent in a half.

The second half saw the Buccos scoring wane slightly as they only scored 34 points in the second half after posting 52 in the first, but they held the Flames to only 10 points in the second half and 23 points for the game which is also the lowest point total for a Bucs opponent in a game.

In addition to the long range bombs, hit by Markus and Schroeder, Freshman Haley Valencia poured in 12 points on 6-7 shooting from the floor.  Freshman point guard Jayla Reliford who only stands at 5-2, led the team in rebounds with a career high 10 boards.  She also tied a Buccaneer team record with eight assists. Markus and freshman Maddison Chappell led the team with five steals each. Chappell also added eight points and seven rebounds.  Senior Allison Hadaway set a career high with nine rebounds, and tallied 12 points. Freshman Kendyl Abel also hit the boards well grabbing eight boards. Park Gilbert outrebounded Bethesda 56-19.

The Buccaneers return to the floor on Sunday, December 19 as they take on Mount Marty at the PHHacility in another non-conference matchup before taking time off for the holiday break.