Wildcats Fall on the Road to Pirates, 65-53

PARKVILLE, Mo. – After winning their last road game against a Heart team, the Baker women's basketball team fell short of coming out on top in its matchup at Park as the Wildcats fell to the Pirates, 65-53 on Wednesday evening in Parkville, Mo.

The Wildcats shot slightly better overall than the Pirates, finishing just under 40 percent from the floor, while both teams each hit four 3-pointers in the game. Park made its living at the charity stripe where it went 23-for-32, meanwhile the Wildcats missed two of their nine trips to the line.

Leah Van Weelden led BU in scoring with 15 points and Jaelyn Two Hearts followed right behind with 14 points. Alyssa Morris chipped in 10 points off the bench, while hauling in six rebounds.

With the two sides matching each other in the second and third quarters, the Pirates' five-point lead at the end of the first provided a critical boost for the hosts as they got out to a 12-4 lead thru the first five minutes of the game.

A three-point play by Van Weelden and a layup by Hayley Numrich helped the Wildcats trim off some of their early deficit, but a three by Park put them up 16-11 after a quarter of play.

Morris splashed in her first three of the game to open things up in the second frame before the Pirates worked their lead back up to nine points. Back-to-back buckets by Van Weelden got the 'Cats within five points as Baker went into the half trailing 27-22.

Out of the break, Emma Cunningham got a bucket to fall on a nice find by Two Hearts and the senior from Fort Totten, N.D. added a jumper of her own on the next possession to make it a two-point ballgame.

Two Hearts came back with another set of points to give Baker its first lead of the evening at the 3:40 mark before the Pirates closed out the quarter on a 12-5 run to take a 40-35 lead into the fourth.

In the fourth, Van Weelden's basket a minute into things made it a one-possession game before Park put together a string of eight straight points to make it a double-digit deficit for BU with just over five minutes remaining.

A three by Two Hearts and a layup by Matalina Ochoa made it 57-47 with just over a minute left and a Morris three got the Wildcats within single digits, but the Pirates were able to hold on to earn the conference win, 65-53.

Baker continues with its late January road trip with a matchup at Mount Mercy on Saturday, Jan. 27 with tipoff from Cedar Rapids, Iowa set for 12 p.m.

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