Wildcats Fall in Back-and-Forth Battle with William Penn, 58-54

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – Trailing by 10 points in the final quarter, Baker women's basketball came back to cut it to a two-point ballgame with under a minute left in its conference matchup against William Penn before eventually falling to the Statesmen by a score of 58-54 here Saturday afternoon in the Collins Center.

A 16-point second quarter by the Wildcats drew things even at the half, 26-26 before the Statesmen posted 19 points in the third quarter and held on in the fourth to earn their second conference win of the season.

Leah Van Weelden marked a season-high 18 points to lead things for BU, while Emma Cunningham put up a 13-point effort off the bench to go along with her team-high eight rebounds.

Van Weelden opened up the game with one of Baker's four 3-pointers of the first half, but after Cunningham's bucket at the midway point, the Wildcats wouldn't score again until just under two minutes left in the first quarter.

After Jaelyn Two Hearts' three capped the opening period at 14-10 in favor of WPU, Hayley Numrich would splash in a trey of her own to begin the second quarter before back-to-back baskets by Cunninham and Van Weelden put Baker in front, 17-16.

The two sides would flip-flop lead changes for the rest of the half with a Barrett three tying things up at 24-all. After the Statesmen picked up a second-chance opportunity on their end, Cunningham's stick-back with 30 seconds left settled the back-and-forth first half at a 26-26 deadlock.

Looking to continue their run of second-half success, the Wildcats connected on back-to-back buckets to start the third quarter before a couple of layups by Cunningham and Barrett kept Baker's lead at four points.

The Statesmen would reclaim the lead just a minute later with the first of two devastating 3-pointers in the period. A basket by Two Hearts brought the 'Cats within one, but WPU closed with five unanswered points, including the second triple that gave them a five-point advantage heading into the final frame.

After facing their largest deficit of the game at 10 points early in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats rallied with eight straight points with Two Hearts finding Van Weelden for an easy bucket to make it a two-point ball game at 49-47.

William Penn squelched BU's momentum with another crucial three, giving them a little breathing room going into the game's final three minutes. With WPU leading by eight, Van Weelden knocked down four straight free throws and Cunningham came through with another big offensive putback to bring the Wildcats within two points with under a minute left to play.

Out of a timeout, the Statesmen executed a play to go up by four and held Baker to just a lone free throw to come away with the 58-54 road win.

It ended up being a cold shooting night for both clubs with each team shooting under 40 percent for the game, but the Wildcats did go 10-for-13 from the free-throw line, while WPU was 14-for-24. Both teams also hit four 3-pointers and forced 19 turnovers apiece.

The Wildcats close out the 2023 half of their conference season with a matchup at home against Mount Mercy on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 12 p.m. inside the Collins Center.

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