YORK, Neb. – The York University women's basketball team recorded an 89-88 victory over McPherson College Wednesday evening.
 
The Panthers are now 8-18 on the year, including 2-16 in KCAC action.
 
Head coach Corinna Minjarez's squad was paced by Destiny Shepherd's game-high 29 points. Zoe Brown narrowly missed a double-double with 14 points and nine boards. Sylvia Valentino and Monique Contreras added nine points apiece. Alesia Rand had eight points and six boards.
 
Alliyana Page notched eight points and two blocks. Yareli Gomez chipped in six points and eight boards while Lauren Perez and Amaya Payne had five points and one point, respectively. 
 
York jumped out to an 8-1 lead. Shepherd, Page and Valentino hit lay-ups, giving the team a seven-point cushion. UP 8-6, Gomez nailed a jumper while Contreras hit a three-ball for a quick 5-0 spurt off passes from Shepherd. Holding a 13-9 edge, Contreras and Shepherd nailed shots from distance. Shepherd hit a free throw before Contreras canned another shot from downtown for a 23-9 margin at the 3:25 mark.
 
Two free throws and a lay-up by Page in the final 90 seconds pushed the advantage to 17, 30-13. However, the Bulldogs cut the deficit to 15 at the end of the quarter.
 
McPherson College outscored York 22-8 in the second period, making the game a one-point contest at intermission, 38-37. 
 
Tied at 48-48, Perez netted a jumper at the 4:45 mark of the third quarter. Contreras found Shepherd for a shot from behind the three-point arc. With just under four minutes to play in the stanza, Contreras hit Gomez for a jumper, giving York 55-48 lead. After the visitors sliced the lead to five, 57-52, the Panthers recorded the final five points of the quarter for a 62-52 edge. Shepherd hit a lay-up and Perez canned three charity tosses.  
 
York led 71-63 before Shepherd found Brown for a three-point bucket with 6:04 remaining. Leading 76-75, Brown hit a free throw and Rand drilled a jumper at the 2:28 mark. With an 81-80 edge, Gomez drilled an inside shot. Shepherd buried two free throws, pushing the score to 85-80 at the 1:06 mark. 
 
McPherson pulled within three with 50 ticks on the clock. Shepherd made two free throws, but the Bulldogs made it a two-point contest with four seconds to go. Shepherd was fouled and promptly hit two charity tosses for an 89-85 margin. 
 
For the game, York hit 28-of-65 from the floor, including 10-of-26 from the three-point stripe. The squad buried 23-of-31 from the charity stripe. The Panthers held a 46-40 edge on the glass and led for nearly 38 minutes. The team dished out 13 assists and got 21 points off the bench. York scored 30 points in the lane and connected on 22 second-chance points. 
 
The Panthers return to action Saturday when they travel to Oklahoma Wesleyan at 12 p.m. Live stats and video at Yorkpanthers.com.