Wildcats Suffer Tough Road Loss to Ravens in Final Heart Game of 2023

ATCHISON, Kan. – Battling with conference rival Benedictine for the full 40 minutes, Baker women's basketball fell in its final Heart of America contest of the calendar year with a 54-51 setback against the Ravens on Tuesday in Atchison, Kan.

After trailing at halftime, the Wildcats outscored the Ravens in the second half and took a lead in the fourth quarter, but the hosts were able to hold on late and come away with the three-point victory.

The Wildcats got their scoring from four players with Jaelyn Two Hearts' 26 points leading the team, while Leah Van Weelden added 13 points to go along with her six rebounds. Emma Cunningham scored eight points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

The Ravens opened up the game with back-to-back threes to set the stage for their 20-point first quarter, while the Wildcats splashed in a couple treys of their own in the frame with a triple by Van Weelden bringing BU within one with under a minute remaining.

After Benedictine closed out the first with five straight points, both sides would cool off in the second period with Cunningham's bucket providing the only scoring through the first four minutes.

With Baker holding the Ravens to just three points for most of the quarter, Cunningham cut it to a two-point game with 3:30 remaining and a pair of Van Weelden free throws tied the game at 23-all before the Ravens capped off its second straight quarter with five unanswered points to take a 28-23 lead into the break.

Two Hearts connected on a couple of shots from three-point range to begin the third quarter and a nice transition bucket by Van Weelden gave BU its first lead since the first quarter, going up 31-30 just three minutes into the second half of play.

Sophia Barrett finished off Baker's 7-0 run with a tough jumper to make it a three-point lead for BU before the Ravens countered with a three to draw things even once again. The two sides traded points for the rest of the period with a second-chance bucket by the Ravens giving them the slight edge at 40-38 heading into the final quarter.

Draining three 3-pointers in the fourth, Two Hearts fired off her first one to swing the lead back to the Wildcats' side early in the period. With Baker trailing by three in the final two minutes, the senior from Fort Totten, N.D. hit back-to-back treys to make it a one-point ballgame with just four seconds left.

After the Ravens knocked down a couple of free throws, the Wildcats had a chance for some last-second magic, but would come up short as they closed out the 2023 portion of their conference season with a heartbreaker on the road.

Baker takes a quick pause from Heart play during the winter break and will face NCAA Division II opponent Rockhurst on Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. in Kansas City, Mo. before opening the new year with a home game against MidAmerica Nazarene on Jan. 3, 2024 at 5:30 p.m.

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