Wildcats Advance to First KCAC Title Game, Finish Runner-Up

OTTAWA, Kan. - Making its first appearance in the championship game of the KCAC Tournament, the Baker women's flag football team earned a runner-up finish after falling to top-seeded Ottawa, 26-20, on Saturday.

As the No. 2 seed for the tournament, the Wildcats opened the weekend with a 32-6 win over No. 7 William Woods in Friday's quarterfinals before rolling past No. 3 Kansas Wesleyan, 40-13, in the semifinals on Saturday to secure a spot in the program's first title game.

BU started off the tournament with a victory over the Owls, scoring 20 points in the first quarter to build a comfortable lead and maintained it the rest of the way. Meanwhile, the Wildcats defense delivered a dominating performance, forcing a whopping seven interceptions, with three of them coming from defender Natalie Busch, who had a pick-six on the opening drive of the game.

Tara Llorente contributed to three of the four touchdowns from the BU offense, throwing for a pair of scores in the first half before running one in near the goal in the third quarter to cap the scoring for the Wildcats. Sanija Waller tallied two touchdown catches, hauling in a fourth-down pass from Kaley Phillips to make it 14-0 after Busch's pick-six.

On Saturday, the Wildcats moved on to a semifinal matchup, where they would square off against KWU for the third straight year.

It was a high-scoring first half that featured Baker scoring twice in each quarter to take a 27-13 halftime lead over the Coyotes before garnishing the win with a couple of scores in the fourth.

The Wildcats opened the game in spectacular fashion as Llorente found Mahagonay Simmons on the very first play for a huge 66-yard touchdown. Llorente would go on to finish with 179 yards passing and three touchdowns, while Waller totaled three rushing touchdowns.

After KWU tied the game at 7-7, Llorente connected with Jaylin Harris for the first of her two touchdown catches of the game. Harris' second score came right before half, scoring on another big chunk play from Llorente in the final minute.

In the second half, Baker's defense locked in and kept the Coyotes out of the end zone for the rest of the game. BU came through with a fourth-down stop on KWU's first drive of the half and poured salt on the wound by following it up with a long drive that resulted in Waller's second rushing score of the day.

Waller tacked on the final touchdown of the game to complete the Wildcats' big semifinal victory and push the team on to the KCAC Championship for the first time in its three seasons as a program.

Facing off against the five-time defending conference champs, Baker battled with Ottawa all game long in the title match, falling late after the Braves scored in the final minutes.

Llorente went 22-of-34 passing with 203 yards and a touchdown, while Waller continued her stellar tournament run with a season-high 14 catches for 97 yards and added in a rushing touchdown.

After Ottawa took a 14-0 lead, the Wildcats responded with a key touchdown before the half as Waller finished off the eight-play drive with a punch in right at the goal line.

BU got the ball to start the second half and marched right down for its second straight score. Llorente found Kaley Phillips a couple of times during the drive before hooking up with her in the end zone on a 16-yard strike to make it a 14-12 ballgame.

Kaley Phillips picked off a pass on OU's ensuing possession to give the ball back to Baker for a chance to take the lead. BU's drive, however, stalled around midfield and the Braves turned their defensive stop into a crucial score to take a 20-12 lead early in the fourth quarter.

With their backs against the wall, the Wildcats pulled out an excellent drive to tie the game with Llorente and Kaley Phillips switching roles as Llorente collected a short pitch-and-catch from Phillips at the goal line. Following a couple of OU penalties, BU was able to convert the two-point conversion and send the championship game to a 20-20 deadlock with less than seven minutes left to play.

Ottawa responded by chewing up five minutes of clock and notching the go-ahead touchdown to take a 26-20 lead with 1:05 remaining. Looking to match, BU got around midfield to make its last-ditch play a little better, but the Braves stopped them to hold on for their sixth straight conference championship.

After finishing up its most impressive KCAC Tournament run, Baker will await the final spots for the inaugural NAIA Women's Flag Football Invitational, which will be held on May 6-9 in Bradenton, Fla.

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