Wildcats Drop Monday Night Road Matchup at MNU, 87-66

OLATHE, Kan. – The Baker women's basketball team suffered its second setback of 2023 as the Wildcats fell to MidAmerica Nazarene, 87-66 on Monday night.

Leah Van Weelden and Chassidy Weathers led the Wildcats in scoring with 13 points apiece. Weathers marked her season-high point total with a 3-for-4 outing from three-point range. Sophia Barrett also contributed 11 points while Emina Hadzihusejnovic collected a team-high nine rebounds.

In the first quarter, both teams came out of the gate firing with each side shooting over 50 percent in the period. After the Pioneers broke up a 5-5 tie, Barrett drained a three to keep the Wildcats within two. Ainsley Tolson knotted things at 14-14 with a basket on a find from Emma Cunningham. MNU would go on to reclaim the lead, but a Weathers three-pointer at the one-minute mark drew the game even again.

Leading 22-18, the Pioneers catapulted ahead in the second period by scoring 32 points in the quarter. They started the second with a game-opening 24-3 run and by the time Tolson halted the scoring stretch with a three-point play, MNU had built a 46-24 advantage with three minutes left until halftime.

Barrett converted another plus-one opportunity for BU in the closing seconds of the first half as Baker found itself trailing 54-29 at the break.

The Wildcats stormed out of halftime with a string of buckets, going on an 8-0 run to open the third quarter. Cunningham kicked off the run with a three-point play and Hadzihusejnovic followed after being rewarded with a bucket after forcing an MNU turnover.

The Pioneers responded by scoring eight unanswered of their own, holding the Wildcats scoreless over a three-minute stretch. With starting point guard Tolson fouling out in the third quarter, Weathers stepped up and scored back-to-back baskets to close out the period as MNU held onto a 63-42 lead.

Weathers extended her scoring spurt with a three to open the final period before Van Weelden recorded five consecutive points after that for Baker. MNU continued to keep its grip on a double-digit cushion and went up by 19 with just over five minutes left in the game before Weathers's third triple of the contest trimmed their lead to 71-55.

That's as close as the Wildcats would get as they saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt at the hands of MNU, 87-66.

Baker falls to 8-8 overall and 4-7 against conference opponents this season. The Wildcats return to Baldwin City for a two-game homestand, beginning with Benedictine on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 5:30 p.m.

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