Wildcats Advance to KCAC Semis for Second Straight Year, Fall in Final Seconds to KWU

RIVERSIDE, Mo. - For the second straight season, No. 3 Baker women's flag football made it to the semifinals of the KCAC Women's Flag Football Championship before falling in gut-wrenching fashion to No. 2 Kansas Wesleyan to spoil BU's conference tournament run.

With the tournament being played at the KC Current Training Facility in Riverside, Mo., the Wildcats cruised to a 38-0 victory over No. 6 Graceland in the KCAC Quarterfinals on Friday to move on to Saturday's semifinals.

On Saturday, BU fell in a tough matchup against KWU, 26-20, with the Coyotes scoring a game-winning touchdown with four seconds left on the clock.

After defeating the Yellowjackets last week in the home finale at Liston Stadium, the Wildcats took care of business in their postseason matchup, scoring three times in each half to come away with a 38-point shutout.

Wide receiver Jaylin Harris had three of her four catches in the game result in touchdowns with a 13-yard touchdown reception in the first half, followed by back-to-back scores in the third quarter.

Tara Llorente scored on Baker's opening possession of the game with a six-yard run before Harris tallied her first touchdown grab of the game. Kaley Phillips found the end zone on a pass from Sanija Waller in the closing seconds of the first half to give BU a 19-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, Phillips followed Harris' two scores with her second touchdown of the night, capping BU's victory with a huge 49-yard touchdown run.

With the two teams facing off in the semis for the second straight year, the Wildcats and Coyotes battled in a back-and-forth contest that saw KWU score in the final seconds to rob BU of its first championship appearance.

It was a 7-7 ballgame going into the second half with Baker scoring in the final two minutes of the second quarter on a short run by Llorente.

KWU scored on the first play of the fourth quarter to reclaim the lead before a quick response by the Wildcats knotted the game right back up at 13-all. Waller took a Llorente pass 61 yards to the house on the second play of the ensuing drive.

The Coyotes went back in front once again, but were unsuccessful on their extra-point attempt and took a 19-13 lead with less than seven minutes left to play.

Llorente and the BU offense orchestrated a methodical drive to get within striking distance and Llorente bagged her second rushing touchdown of the game to set up a pivotal extra-point try. Llorente's pass connected on the short-yardage PAT to give the Wildcats a 20-19 lead with 2:08 remaining.

Kansas Wesleyan made its way down the field on the game's decisive possession and got to the BU 15-yard line before scoring the game-winner on a third-down play in the final 10 seconds.

With an 11-7 record overall, Baker will continue its postseason run with a trip to the 2025 NAIA Flag Finals on May 5-8 at the KC Current Training Facility in Riverside, Mo.

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