The Baker University women’s basketball team bounced back from an overtime loss to McPherson College Saturday to defeat Peru State College 76-69 Thursday in Collins Center.

The victory was the Wildcats’ 10th of the season and moved them to a perfect 3-0 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.

“We’re happy with the win and I don’t want to take from that,” head coach Ben Lister said. “We did some things really well in the first half offensively when we took care of the basketball. They had a hard time guarding us and we were dominant on the glass. Peru (State) is a very good rebounding team and for us to be plus-20 on the glass says a lot about our kids and Rashida (Simpson) in particular.”

Simpson had a game-high 22 rebounds to go along with her 12 points. Sophomore Avery Vogts joined Simpson by scoring 12 points and sophomore Krystie Ehm added 11.

While Simpson controlled the glass, Peru State’s Courtney Ward was a force inside for the Bobcats as she led all scorers with 30 points.

“In the second half, (Ward) just wore us down,” Lister said. “Of those 30, I’m guessing she probably had eight of those in the last three or four minutes of the game.”

The Wildcats built a 45-34 advantage at halftime and led by double figures for most of the second half, but the Bobcats threatened late. Peru State got within five points with less than two minutes left, but Ehm knocked down a 3-pointer and PSC was unable to respond.

“We needed that shot to go in,” Lister said. “We were struggling and I thought we got a little complacent in the last five minutes pushing the basketball and tried to sit on the ball a little bit too much. With six kids on their team, we needed to continue to attack them and try to continue to wear them down in the last five minutes.”

While Lister was pleased his team came out on top, he still believes the Wildcats have to cut down their number of turnovers in order to stay perfect in the HAAC. Baker had 26 turnovers, while the Bobcats coughed it up 13 times.

“We’re averaging 26 (turnovers) since the break,” Lister said. “Our efficiency offensively would be off the charts if we could take care of the ball.”

Baker will look to improve to 4-0 in conference play Saturday as it takes on Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.