Wildcats Open 2025 Season at Midwest Spring Kickoff Classic

OTTAWA, Kan. - Opening up the program's second season of competition, the Baker women's flag football squad took on three other Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference teams in the Midwest Spring Kickoff Classic, hosted by Ottawa, on Sunday.

The Wildcats fell to the Braves, 34-0 in their season opener before dropping the next two games against Midland (33-19) and Kansas Wesleyan (14-6).

Baker hung tough initially in its matchup against the four-time defending national champion Braves, trailing by just 15 points late in the second quarter before OU capitalized on a turnover and tacked on another touchdown as time expired to take a 22-0 halftime lead.

The Braves scored only once in each quarter of the second half, but forced two more interceptions to take the first match of the tournament, 34-0. Tara Llorente and Sanija Waller combined to throw for 123 yards while six Wildcats caught a pass in the game with Waller snagging five receptions for 42 yards.

In the game against Midland, the Wildcats saw their 7-0 lead get erased by another costly turnover with a pick-six from the Warriors defense pushing them out in front, 13-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Newcomer Kaley Phillips scored from three yards out to tie things up at 13-13 with seven minutes left in the first half before Midland struck up two more touchdowns in a high-scoring first half.

After an interception from Phillips set them up close, Llorente punched in a rushing touchdown on BU's first possession of the third quarter to make it a 26-19 deficit for the Wildcats. The Warriors were able to keep BU out of the end zone for the rest of the way though and add an insurance score in the fourth quarter to come out on top, 33-19.

Llorente finished with 133 yards passing and totaled 82 yards on the ground.

In the final game of the day, the Wildcats faced a defensive battle against Kansas Wesleyan after both teams scored in the opening quarter. With KWU getting on the board first, K. Phillips hauled in a long 58-yard pass from Llorente to make it 7-6 in the first quarter.

The scoring would come to a halt though as neither team could find the end zone over the next two quarters before the Coyotes sealed the game with a touchdown with five minutes left to play to earn a close 14-6 victory.

Up next, Baker will host its first home game of the season with a matchup against William Woods on Thursday, February 27 at 6 p.m. inside Liston Stadium.

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