Wildcats Finish Strong to Top Visiting Vikings, 67-60

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – Propelled by a 20-point fourth quarter, the Baker women's basketball team defeated Missouri Valley, 67-60 on Wednesday night for its second straight win to open the new calendar year.

The Wildcats utilized an all-around scoring effort to dispatch the Vikings with Ainsley Tolson leading the team with 15 points while also grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. She was joined in double figures by Emina Hadzihusejnovic (13), Emma Cunningham (12) and Leah Van Weelden (11) while Sophia Barrett added eight points.

Despite going 3-for-13 from three-point range, BU shot nearly 50 percent from the field (27-for-57) while defensively they weathered the long-range attack of the Vikings (8-for-23) by limiting them to just nine field goals inside the arc.

Backed by a 14-point quarter from point guard Giavanna Moore, the Vikings seized the early advantage in the first quarter. They hit four three-pointers and added a de facto three pointer after Moore was fouled on a three-point shot and went on to knock down all three free throws.

On the flip side, the Wildcats went to work inside with Cunningham powering a few tough buckets on her way to six points in the opening quarter. With just under two minutes left in the first period, her and Tolson teamed up for a quick bucket before Tolson connected on a long outlet pass to a streaking Van Weelden on the next possession to cut the Vikings lead to 17-14.

In the second quarter, Missouri Valley stretched its lead out to nine points with another triple putting them ahead 28-19 midway through the period. BU bounced back with a second-chance stick-back from Hadzihusejnovic followed by a Chassidy Weathers three to bring the Wildcats within four.

After trailing 31-24, Baker closed out the first half with a 9-0 run that was punctuated by a three-pointer from Emmery Joseph in the final seconds to give the Wildcats their first lead of the contest and take a 33-31 advantage into halftime.

The third quarter featured a lot of back-and-forth with both teams trading buckets throughout most of the period. The Vikings went ahead 45-40 with three minutes left before a three-point play from Van Weelden swung the momentum back to the BU side. Later in the quarter, Tolson scored layups on consecutive possessions to tie the game at 47-47

With the Wildcats down by one to start the final frame, Cunningham came right out of the quarter break with a basket underneath to retake the lead for BU. Then, with the scored tied at 53-all, Hadzihusejnovic drained a three from the top of the key before Weathers extended the lead with a jump shot on the next trip down the court.

Van Weelden gave the Wildcats a seven-point lead with 4:30 left in the game, but the Vikings scored the next five points to make it a two-point game heading into the home stretch.

With less than three minutes remaining, Tolson dribbled her way to an open look and swished a mid-range jumper to make it 62-58 in favor of Baker. Then, Cunningham converted a couple of crucial free throws to put the Wildcats up by six.

The Vikings would get within four again and, following a Barrett free throw, looked to make it a one-possession ball game with 30 seconds left. But, suffocating defense from Van Weelden forced a tough three from Moore – who was held to just four points after her big first quarter – to seal Baker's third conference win of the season.

Baker moves to 7-7 on the season and 3-6 in Heart play. The Wildcats head back out on the road for a matchup with Park on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. in Parkville, Mo.

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