When playing a conference season, you hope to be a full strength. For the past two seasons, the Park University Gilbert women's basketball team has not been able to come to the party with its full compliment of weapons.  Tonight, the Bucs were missing starting point guard Jayla Reliford, sixth man defensive stopper Kianna Turenne and post Carlee Meiner. The loss of those key contributors could be seen in a conference opening upset loss at Simpson University 63-55 at the James E. Grant Center in Redding, Calif. With the loss, Park Gilbert drops to 2-1, 0-1 in the Cal Pac while the Redhawks move to 4-4, 2-0 in Cal Pac play.

Without their floor general in Reliford, who is out with an injury, the Bucs were credited with 16 turnovers, but there seemed to be more giveaways then were credited to the Bucs.    

"You can't turn the ball over the way we did and expect to win," said Buccaneers head coach Jeff Fore. "We gave them too many extra possessions and then allowed them too many easy baskets on their end."

The first quarter saw the Redhawks lead by as many as seven (14-7) before the Bucs went on a 13-2 run over the last six minutes of the quarter to take a 20-16 lead. Kayla Schroeder scored nine points on a perfect 4-4 from the floor, including a three-pointer. Park Gilbert shot 50 percent (8-16) for the frame.   

The second period saw the Buccaneers cool down slightly, but silly turnovers cost them more than anything. Bad outlet passes and careless passes with no pressure gave the Redhawks extra possessions which they converted into four points. With the additional help, the Redhawks, who only shot 34 percent in the half, were able to cut the Bucs advantage to one going into halftime.

Neither team shot well in the third quarter as the game continued to go back and forth. Every time one team scored the other team had an answer. And once it was all said and done, the Bucs once again led by one heading into the fourth quarter.

Turnovers were once again a problem for the Bucs in the fourth. Simpson started the frame with a 9-2 run to force a Park time out. Along with the turnovers, there seemed to be a lid on the basket for the Bucs as they missed easy shots they normally don't miss. On the other side of the floor, the Redhawks shot 55 percent in the quarter to help them maintain the lead after the initial run.

Offensively, Schroeder led the team with 17 points, but was held to just four points in the second half. She shot 8-11 (.727) from the floor, but only took four shots (making two) in the second half. Madison Chappell tied for the team lead with 10 rebounds but was in foul trouble for much of the contest and finished with only two points taking one shot all night.  Valerie Van Dijk also had 10 boards and added six points.

Park Gilbert now has two days off to make some adjustments before returning to the court in northern California as they head south to take on UC Merced on Sunday, December 4 at 6:30 p.m. Arizona time.