Wildcats Drop Road Contest at Mount Mercy, 83-58

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Leading by five after the first quarter, Baker women's basketball couldn't carry the momentum forward for the rest of its Monday night matchup at Mount Mercy, falling to the Mustangs, 83-58 in BU's final conference game before the holiday break.

Just like in their game against (RV) Grand View on Saturday, the Wildcats put together a solid first quarter to take an early 17-12 lead before the Mustangs countered with a huge 30-point quarter in the second. MMU continued to control things in the second half before eventually claiming its third win in the month of December.

Sophia Barrett went 5-for-5 from the free throw line and finished with a team-high 15 points, while rounding out her stat line with five rebounds, five blocks, four steals and an assist. Taniya Tease scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half and Destiny Kiner chipped in 10 points.

Barrett and Kiner got the BU offense going right off the bat with Kiner finishing off a couple of driving layups and Barrett converting a three-point play. Layups by Tease and Alyssa Morris made it a seven-point advantage for the Wildcats before they closed out the opening quarter leading, 17-12.

The Mustangs punched back by nearly tripling their first-quarter total, sinking three threes and missing just four shots in the frame. Tease tried to keep the Wildcats afloat with seven points in the quarter. She snapped an initial 7-0 run by MMU before the hosts finished off the half on a 19-3 swing to go into halftime with a 42-27 lead.

Tease and Morris each scored a bucket to start the second half before a three from Kiner made it a 15-point deficit for BU. The Mustangs worked their lead out over 20 points with Baker going on a cold stretch offensively as a Kiner layup was the last field goal for BU with just under three minutes left in the period.

Barrett accounted for the first 10 points of the fourth quarter for the Wildcats and Maggie Myers connected on six points in a nice stretch for the senior guard from Bonner Springs, Kan. as Mount Mercy maintained its cruise control in the final 10 minutes to come away with the comfortable victory.

Playing its third game in five days, Baker will be back in action again on Wednesday, Dec. 18 to face NCAA Division II opponent Rockhurst on the road in an exhibition game set for 5:30 p.m. in Kansas City, Mo.

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