Wildcats Drop Senior Day Matchup to Pirates, 67-56

BALDWIN CITY - Despite a strong fourth-quarter fight, Baker women's basketball fell to Park, 67-56, here Saturday on Senior Day in the Collins Center in the second game of BU's four-game homestand.

Following the conclusion of the game, the Wildcats honored two seniors - Amaya Barnes and Taniya Tease - for their contributions to the BU women's basketball program.

The Wildcats battled with a hot-shooting Pirates side in the first half, trailing by nine at the half, before a big third quarter from Park built up a commanding lead, which was too much for BU to overcome in the fourth quarter.

Boosted by a first half that saw them shoot at a near-60-percent clip, the Pirates finished 26-for-57 from the field overall, but their defense was the big key throughout the night, forcing 26 BU turnovers, which the visitors converted into 35 points.

Baker boasted a significant advantage in both free throws and rebound margin (45-28), with BU going 21-for-29 at the line compared to the 12 trips Park made.

Kennedy Bryan led the Wildcats in scoring with 15 points, tallying all but two of her points in BU's attempted fourth quarter rally. Rihanna Blanchard finished a rebound shy of a double-double, totaling 11 points and nine rebounds. Corrine Cole reached double figures as well with 10 points and six rebounds.

Park's defense helped the visitors take control from the tip, building a 10-3 lead before a three-point play from Blanchard shook off the cobwebs of the BU offense. Cole put together a solid first quarter, scoring six points in the frame, including a 3-pointer to keep BU close.

A free throw by Cole and a Park layup were the only points of the final three minutes of the opening quarter as the Pirates took a 21-12 lead into the second period.

Baker got a couple of buckets from their post players in Barnes and Neveah Leeks to begin the second quarter. After being fouled behind the arc, freshman Lauren Berg sank all three of her free throws to make it an eight-point ballgame.

The Wildcats produced the rest of their scoring of the half at the line until a buzzer-beating stick-back by Cole settled the halftime score at 37-27 in favor of Park.

In the second half, Blanchard and Rose each got a bucket to fall in the early going, but a pair of devastating threes from the Pirates sucked the air out of BU's solid defensive start to the third quarter. Park continued to sink shots and force empty possessions from the Wildcats to run the lead up to 53-32 going into the final 10 minutes.

After a 3-pointer from the Pirates pushed their lead out to 24, Baker launched into a spirited fourth-quarter rally, which began on a 10-1 run highlighted by back-to-back treys from Bryan. The senior Barnes swished in one from deep to keep BU creeping closer. Fellow senior Tease buried a three of her own and Bryan followed by going 3-for-3 at the line after being fouled on a three-point attempt to cut the Wildcats' deficit to 63-52 with 1:55 left to play.

Baker's hope for a heroic comeback would sputter out from there, though, as Park forced one last timely turnover and was able to escape with the win, 67-56.

Up next, Baker will play its make-up game with Missouri Valley on Monday, Feb. 16, at 5:30 p.m. in Collins before turning around and closing out its home slate with a matchup against William Woods on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 5:30 p.m. in Baldwin City.

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