Wildcats Continue Second-Half Surge, Earn Double-Digit Road Win at Graceland

LAMONI, Iowa - As one of the hottest teams in the Heart right now, the Baker women's basketball team picked up their sixth conference win of 2025 with a dominating 74-62 victory at Graceland on Saturday afternoon.

After falling behind by four in the first quarter, the Wildcats outscored GU by a staggering 42-19 margin between the second and third quarters before the Yellowjackets made a run in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand to make the final score closer than the 20-point advantage BU held at one point.

It was another terrific offensive night for the Wildcats, shooting over 50 percent from both the floor (26-for-50) and from three (8-for-16), while going near automatic from the free-throw line where they were 14-for-16.

Alyssa Morris tallied five of the 3-pointers to finish with a game-high 19 points. Sophia Barrett posted her third double-double of the season after totaling 18 points and 11 rebounds. Destiny Kiner and Taniya Tease both reached double figures as well with 10 points apiece.

The game opened with Rihanna Blanchard earning a steal and Barrett coming up on the receiving end to put Baker on the scoreboard first. Morris and Barrett each drilled a three as the Wildcats took an initial lead, but the Yellowjackets responded with a 12-2 run to jump out in front.

With time winding down, Tease made a nice move in the post to get a basket to fall before the buzzer to pull Baker within four with GU leading, 19-15 at the end of the first 10 minutes.

The Yellowjackets pushed their advantage out to double digits in the second quarter, hitting a three to take a 30-19 lead just a couple of minutes into the frame.

From there, the Wildcats clamped down on defense and held GU scoreless for the rest of the half, while surging back ahead with an incredible 18 unanswered points to close out the half.

Kiner started to bring Baker back in it after converting a three-point play and then following with another layup. Maggie Myers fired in the first of her two triples in the game to get BU within three.

Barrett, Blanchard and Morris all chipped in points to the run as well as the Wildcats took a 37-30 halftime lead.

Baker continued to stonewall the hosts in the third quarter with GU eventually snapping its drought with back-to-back buckets, but those would serve as half of their eight-point total in the period.

Meanwhile, Morris opened up a three-point frenzy for BU with her and Barrett combining for four straight triples with three of them coming from Morris.

Tease scored six straight points and Barrett finished off the brilliant quarter with a layup to give Baker a comfortable 57-38 lead heading into the final period.

A Blanchard layup brought BU's lead out to a 20-point margin early in the fourth before the Wildcats started to empty their bench midway through the frame.

Myers added a couple more points and Maddie Wilbeck went 4-for-4 on her trips to the foul line as Baker came out on top of its final road game of the regular season, 74-62.

Since January, the Wildcats have racked up six conference wins with a 6-5 record in their last 11 games. They currently sit tied for ninth in the Heart standings at 6-16 and are two wins behind Clarke (8-13) who holds the final spot for the eight-team conference tournament.

Baker will close out the regular season with back-to-back home games next week, beginning with a huge matchup against Benedictine on Wednesday, February 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the Collins Center.

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