by BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – After trailing by as much as 18 points, Baker women’s basketball battled all the way back in its midweek conference matchup against Park and cut it to a one-score game before eventually falling to the Pirates, 64-60 on Wednesday night inside the Collins Center.
Outscoring the Pirates, 37-23 in the second half, the Wildcats had a chance to complete their dramatic comeback, trailing by just two points with 15 seconds left, but Park was able to hold defensively and spoil BU’s second-half rally to escape with its second straight conference win.
Tying a program record with seven 3-pointers, Jaelyn Two Hearts scored a season-high 25 points with a 54-percent mark from the three-point line. Leah Van Weelden and Sophia Barrett reached double figures as well with Van Weelden going for 14 points and Barrett with 10 points. Barrett had a solid all-around game with four steals, three rebounds and three blocks filling out her stat sheet.
The Pirates shot over 50 percent from the floor in the first half, including making seven of their first 11 shots to open the game with a 20-9 lead after the first quarter. A Barrett three tied things up early at 5-5 before Park closed out the period with a 15-4 stretch with back-to-back treys fueling its run.
Van Weelden scored a couple of buckets for the Wildcats early in the second period with her first one coming on a nice driving layup to put BU in double figures. After a three by Two Hearts pulled the Wildcats within 11, the Pirates scored six straight points and added a three to take a 15-point lead with 90 seconds left in the half.
Park would secure its largest lead of the game going into halftime, leading 41-23 at the break.
The Wildcats came right out of the intermission with a quick three by Two Hearts setting the tone for their big half. Two Hearts added another triple just a couple minutes later to bring the ‘Cats within 11 again.
Two Hearts splashed her third triple of the period to erase BU’s double-digit deficit and make it 43-35 just four minutes into the second half. The Pirates countered with a big three of their own to push their lead back over double digits and would keep their advantage near that mark for the remainder of the quarter.
An offensive rebound from Matalina Ochoa led to Sanijah Waller knocking down a shot from three-point range to put it at an 11-point game once again before the visitors ended the third leading 54-41.
In the fourth quarter, it was Van Weelden again who sparked a pair of quick buckets to get the Wildcats within single digits and a three by Two Hearts trimmed their deficit to just six points with 6:25 left to play.
Baker got within four on a couple occasions with Barrett getting a tough jumper in the lane to fall to make it 56-52 before adding a pair of free throws to keep it at a four-point game heading into the game’s final two minutes.
Two Hearts’ final three of the ballgame got the Wildcats as close as they had been since the opening quarter, trailing 60-58 with less than a minute to play. Kayla Harrison chipped in a key second-chance basket to make it a one-score game again, but the Wildcats final possession of the game would fall short as the Pirates came away with a 64-60 win.
For Two Hearts, it was her fourth 20-point outing of the year as the senior from Fort Totten, N.D. has averaged 16 points per game in her first season as a Wildcat. She has scored at least 16 points in all five of her games against conference teams. It was the sixth double-digit scoring game for Van Weelden who has reached double figures in all but three games this year.
