It was a win-or-go-home situation for the Baker University women’s basketball against Lindenwood University Wednesday, and the Wildcats came up short in their 65-59 loss to the Lions.
Baker entered the game as the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament, and traveled to St. Charles, Mo., to take on the No. 2 Lindenwood Lions in the first round of the HAAC Tournament.
The Wildcats took a 20-19 lead into halftime, but it was the beginning of the second half that made the difference in the game.
“I think that we just went on a dry spell, and they were hitting everything they put up,” junior Brooke Sanders said. “Our defense wasn’t nearly as tough at the beginning of the second half as it was during the whole first half.”
Lindenwood opened the second half on a 9-0 run and never looked back. The Lions hit 11 of 19 shots in the second half and shot 42 percent from the field for the game.
The Lions Morgan Harrington recorded a game-high 21 points, and hit 11 of 12 shots from the free-throw line.
Sanders led the Wildcats offensively, scoring a career-high 17 points. Senior Brittany Hines was the only other Wildcat in double figures, with 10 points, while senior Emily Gibson finished with nine points.
“I mean, of course I felt good about how I played and about how I went out, but it would’ve been so much better if we would’ve won,” Sanders said.
It was a winning senior day for the six women’s basketball players recognized, along with a 68-59 win over Graceland University heading into the HAAC Tournament.
For some, senior day was just a day of recognition; but for the seniors on the team and head coach Susan Decker, senior day was much more.
“Being able to share senior day with the team and friends and family was an awesome experience,” Hines said.
This season’s seniors are Jenna Brantley, JaNeil Robinson, Audrey Bryant, Hines, Gibson, Aubree Gustin and Courtney Goodrum.
“All the seniors wanted to leave everything out on the court for the last time,” Hines said.
The contest against Graceland was the first time all season that every player who entered the game scored a point.
Decker said the win against Graceland gave the team momentum for the first round of the playoffs.
Before receiving the seventh seed in the tournament, the team was in a three-way tie for the fifth spot with MidAmerica Nazarene University and William Jewel College. Baker lost the tiebreaker game against MidAmerica Nazarene on Feb. 24, 61-46.
The Wildcats also had three players who were All-HAAC selections.
Hines, who averaged 14.1 points per game in the regular season, and Gibson, who led the team with 14.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, were named to the HAAC All-Conference Second Team, while Gustin, who averaged 10 points a game, received an honorable mention nomination.
“We can beat any team in the conference but we have to show up to play,” Sanders said.
The top four teams that hosted games in the first round of the tournament were Evangel University, Lindenwood University, Avila University and Benedictine College.
Baker finished the season 15-16 overall and 10-11 in the HAAC.
