With the help of junior BriAnna Garza, the Baker University women’s basketball team came from behind to defeat Avila University 55-50 Thursday in Collins Center.
With eight minutes left on the clock, Baker was down 44-36 when Garza went on a 12-2 run to put the lead back in the Wildcats’ hands.
“BriAnna stepped up for us and made some big plays,” head coach Ben Lister said. “She got into a rhythm and got us back into the game which is just what we needed.”
Lister thought that his players were “a little flat” on the court and that they took a hard hit when their two leading rebounders, sophomore Rashida Simpson and senior Rece Huddlin, got into foul trouble early in the game.
“We’ve outrebounded every team in the conference except for Avila,” Lister said. “I was a little disappointed in the wings not rebounding as aggressively as I would like us to. I thought we fell in love with the three and just kind of watched our shots. I’m OK with us shooting the ball, but we’ve got to crash in our offense and having Rece and Rashida in foul trouble really affected us a lot.”
Senior captain Alisha Fanshier led the team in scoring for the fourth game in a row with 20 points against the Eagles. She attributes her increased aggressiveness to her success in the past few games.
“Alisha is really coming into her own and is playing like I need her to,” Lister said. “She steps up in big moments and she’s gotten to the point where she expects the ball now, so I trust her with the ball in her hands and to make big plays.”
With the season sweep over Avila, the Wildcats have improved to 13-8 overall and 6-3 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Baker currently stands at fourth place in the conference.
Lister hopes that the Wildcats will be able to clean up their game before they take on their next HAAC opponent, Missouri Valley College.
“I’m hoping our kids are starting to buy into the mindset with what they can accomplish right now and I’m hoping we’ll be focused and ready to go,” Lister said.
The ‘Cats will hit the road to take on Missouri Valley, who they defeated 77-62 earlier in the season. The game will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday in Marshall, Mo.
