Wildcats Battle Missouri Valley to the Wire, Fall at Home in Tuesday Tussle

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – Baker women's basketball used a 10-2 run in the fourth quarter to get within one of the visiting Vikings, but had its comeback bid fall short as Missouri Valley escaped with a 63-57 win over the Wildcats on Tuesday in Baldwin City.

It was another first quarter deficit that doomed the Wildcats after they found themselves trailing, 17-8 at the end of the opening period. BU outscored the Vikings in two of the last three quarters to make it a one-score game in the fourth, but MVC put together the game's final run to come away with its third straight conference win.

Jaelyn Two Hearts posted a game-high 19 points, coming up just shy of her third straight 20-point outing, while Leah Van Weelded recorded 15 points after going 6-for-8 from the free throw line. Senior forward Emma Cunningham added 10 points and six rebounds.

Cunningham scored a couple of buckets for BU to start the game with her second one coming right in front of the three-point line to cut into an early MVC lead at 9-6. The Vikings would go on to control the rest of the first quarter, scoring eight of the final 10 points in the frame to take a 17-8 lead into the second period.

Immediately out of the quarter break, Two Hearts drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to provide a quick six-point swing before going on to add a third straight to tie the game at 17-17 at the 7:48 mark in the second quarter.

After the Vikings retook the lead, a steal by Sanijah Waller led to a run-out layup from Two Hearts that knotted things back up before a dry spell in the game saw the score frozen at 26-23 for a couple of minutes. Hayley Numrich sank two of her three free throws after getting fouled on a 3-pointer and Sophia Barrett added a breakaway layup to draw the game even once again, but a Vikings three with less than 30 seconds left gave the visitors a 30-27 advantage at the half.

To start the second half, Van Weelden and Cunningham brought BU within two before another timely three by MVC stretched the Vikings' lead back out to 35-30. A tough driving layup by Barrett got the 'Cats back within three, but an 8-2 run by Missouri Valley saw Baker's deficit hover around double digits before a pair of Van Weelden free throws closed out the third quarter at 45-38 in favor of MVC.

In the fourth quarter, it was a three by Van Weelden that made it a one-possession game at 47-44 before her stick-back put the Wildcats within one with just under six minutes left to play. The Vikings countered with a crucial three-point play on the following possession and scored six straight points to go up by nine.

Missouri Valley took its first double-digit lead of the game late in the fourth quarter and kept it that way until BU tried to muster one final rally, but the deficit would be too much to overcome as the final score settled at 63-57.

Leading the Wildcats in scoring, Cunningham, Two Hearts and Van Weelden each posted their fifth game this year with double-digit points with Two Hearts averaging nearly 15 points per game (14.7) in her first season at BU. The veterans Cunningham and Van Weelden both averaged over 10 points a game for the Wildcats last season.

Up next, Baker will hit the road again for a top-25 matchup at No. 8 Central Methodist on Saturday, Nov. 25 with tipoff set for 2 p.m. in Fayette, Mo.

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