Wildcats Hang Tough, Fall to Grand View on the Road, 78-65

DES MOINES, Iowa - After dropping a one-point heartbreaker in its previous road outing, Baker women's basketball fell short in its conference matchup at Grand View on Saturday, falling to the Vikings, 78-65.

The Wildcats went toe-to-toe with one of the Heart's top-three teams, the Vikings, battling with the hosts for three straight quarters until GVU started to pull away in the fourth.

Baker actually shot the ball better from the floor and made two more field goals than the Vikings, but faced a huge discrepancy at the charity stripe. Grand View was awarded a whopping 28 free throws and made all but four of them, while BU went 9-for-12 in its considerably fewer trips to the line.

Nine different Wildcats reached the scoring column in an all-around effort, with Skye Pepp and Gabby Rose pacing the team with 12 points apiece. Rihanna Blanchard scored all eight of her points in the first half and finished with an impressive overall line with five rebounds, four steals and an assist.

It was the spunky Blanchard who got Baker going from the start, with the junior guard tallying a couple of early layups. Taniya Tease followed with a string of five unanswered points, including her first three of the game, and a second steal by Blanchard led to a runout layup that gave BU its first lead of the game at 13-11.

GVU used back-to-back 3-pointers to swing the advantage back to its side and take a 17-14 lead into the second quarter.

Baker continued to rely on its defense and forcing turnovers in the second period. A steal by Amaya Barnes led to a layup for Rose before Barnes splashed in a trey to tie the game at 19-19.

After the Vikings went up seven, Maddie Wilbeck provided a big spark off the bench and came in and nailed a pair of threes to bring the 'Cats within three. GVU was able to stretch the lead back out down the stretch and go into the locker with a 38-31 halftime lead.

Kennedy Bryan opened up the second half with a 3-pointer and then found Pepp for an easy jumper to chalk up a quick 5-0 start for BU. As the Vikings continued to punch back with mini runs of their own, another trey by Barnes brought BU back within one at 43-42.

Rose tacked on the final points of the third quarter for the Wildcats, but Grand View maintained its seven-point edge and went into the final 10 minutes carrying a 53-46 lead.

After battling back-and-forth for the first three rounds, Baker started to lose its muster in the fourth period as GVU began the frame with an 11-2 run to work up a double-digit lead. Baskets by Rose, Corrine Cole and Mariah Dightman helped keep BU hanging around, but Grand View got hot at the right time and escaped with the 78-65 win.

It was the second straight valiant road effort out of the Wildcats after they took Central Methodist down to the wire in Fayette, Mo., a couple of weeks ago (Jan. 21).

Baker continues the conference road swing with a matchup at Peru State on Wednesday, February 4, at 5:30 p.m. in Peru, Neb.

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