Wildcats Fall at Home to Park, 65-51 in Midweek Matchup

BALDWIN CITY - A low-scoring second half doomed the Wildcats in their midweek conference battle against Park, falling to the Pirates by a score of 65-51 here Wednesday night in the Collins Center.

The Wildcats scored exactly 16 points in the first two quarters to trail by 11 at the break, but BU would score just 19 points in the second half and drop its third straight game of the early Heart season.

Destiny Kiner led BU with a season-high 22 points, while Harley Baker scored eight points in the first quarter to finish with double-digit points (10) for the second straight game.

Park made its living from the free throw line, converting 22 of its 25 trips to the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Baker went 17-for-24 at the line, but only made two 3-pointers with both of them coming in the first half.

Alyssa Morris knocked down one of the threes right off the bat and followed up with a bucket and Harley Baker added a layup to give the Wildcats an early 8-2 lead. The Pirates seized control quickly after that though, going on a 17-4 run to lead by seven after the first 10 minutes of action.

The Pirates carried over their momentum into the second period, coming out and hitting their first five shots to push their favor out to 33-18. Midway through the quarter, the Wildcats started to respond with a three-point play from Sophia Barrett sparking their nice stretch. With less than a minute left til half, Taniya Tease drilled a three before a jumper in the lane from Kiner as time expired cut BU's halftime deficit to 43-32.

Kiner opened up the second half with an old-fashioned three-point play to pull the 'Cats within single digits, but Baker would hit a slump from there with Park building its lead out 55-39 by the end of the third quarter.

The Wildcats got baskets from Kiner and Harley Baker in the fourth quarter as the Pirates kept their double-digit lead throughout the rest of the game, finishing off the 65-51 road victory.

BU heads back out on the road this weekend, traveling to Canton, Mo. to take on Culver-Stockton on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 2 p.m.

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