Women’s Basketball Falls to No. 11 MidAmerica Nazarene at Home

BALDWIN CITY - Hosting a ranked opponent for the first time this season, Baker women's basketball fell to No. 11 MidAmerica Nazarene, 74-48, on Wednesday night in the Collins Center.

The Wildcats hung tough with the Pioneers in the first half, trailing by 13 at halftime before MNU pulled away in the second half to win in convincing fashion.

MNU buried 10 3-pointers and shot over 40 percent for the game (28-of-64), while BU struggled against the Pioneers' length and went just 16-for-45 from the field despite a strong night from three from Kennedy Bryan.

Bryan made three of her four shots from three-point range with all 9 of her points coming in the first half. Meanwhile, Skye Pepp netted a team-high 18 points and added in six rebounds. Gabby Rose went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.

MNU opened the night with a 14-0 run, forcing BU to go scoreless through the first five minutes before a three-point play by Pepp got the home side going. Bryan followed with a set of triples to trim the early deficit, but the Pioneers worked it back out to double digits to lead, 23-13 after the first 10 minutes.

Once again, it was the Pioneers defense that gave Baker trouble early on in the second quarter, with MNU holding a 15-point lead through the first part of the frame. Bryan and Rihanna Blanchard drained back-to-back threes to halt the drought and give the Wildcats some juice heading into the final minutes.

A pair of jumpers from Pepp kept Baker within single digits, until MNU claimed six of the last eight points to go into the break with a 38-25 lead.

In the third quarter, the Pioneers knocked down a couple of threes to squash any halftime momentum from BU and used a third trey a little bit later to push their lead over 20 points. Pepp and Mariah Dightman chipped in buckets for the Wildcats as they went into the final quarter trailing, 58-36.

MidAmerica Nazarene maintained its control throughout the fourth period to earn its seventh straight win.

Up next, Baker heads out on a three-game road trip, starting on Saturday, Jan. 31, with a matchup at Grand View set to start at 2 p.m. in Des Moines, Iowa.

#BakerBuildsChampions