Wildcats’ Late Rally Falls Short in Non-Conference Matchup at Ottawa

OTTAWA, Kan. - Baker women's basketball erased a 19-point deficit in the fourth quarter to get all the way within six points before falling to Ottawa, 78-69 on the road on Friday.

After taking an 18-15 lead in the first quarter, the Wildcats trailed by two at the break before the Braves started to pull away in the third, only to have a Baker comeback make things interesting down the stretch in the fourth.

Alyssa Morris had her highest-scoring outing as a Wildcat, dropping a game-high 32 points after shooting over 50 percent from three (4-for-8) and turning in a 10-for-13 night at the free throw line. Destiny Kiner reached double figures as well with 16 points and Sophia Barrett finished with eight points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

Ottawa opened up the game by scoring eight of the first nine points before Morris connected on a pair of threes to put BU in front. A couple of trips to the line from her and Barrett gave Baker a three-point advantage after the first 10 minutes of play.

With the Braves building their lead out to eight points in the second period, a three from Morris with 12 seconds left helped bring the 'Cats within two with OU going into halftime with a 29-27 lead.

In the second half, Kiner and Barrett started things off with a couple of buckets for BU before Ottawa used a 20-7 run to lead 53-38 with over a minute left in the third quarter. Morris converted an old-fashioned three-point play before the buzzer to make it an 11-point game heading into the final quarter.

After the Braves pushed their lead to 64-45, the Wildcats started to climb their way back in with Kiner scoring off a couple of fastbreaks and then Morris knocking down another triple. Harley Baker, Rihanna Blanchard and Taniya Tease all chipped in baskets with Tease's making it a 75-69 game with 13 seconds left.

With BU down by seven with nine seconds remaining, OU came through with a steal on an out-of-bounds play to avoid the collapse and seal the non-conference win.

Up next, Baker will open up the Heart of America season at home with a matchup against Missouri Valley on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 5:30 p.m. inside the Collins Center.

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