The Baker University women’s basketball team defeated Tabor College 74-55 on Nov. 23 to bounce back after losing to William Woods University 54-50 Nov. 20.
Despite a three-game losing streak, the ‘Cats beat Tabor by 19 points.
“We came off of a few losses in a row, and I think it showed a lot about us as a team that we could come back and get a big win,” sophomore Haley Epperson said.
Bryant led the team with 15 points, and Gustin and Gibson had seven rebounds each.
Baker shot 49 percent from the field and hit seven 3-pointers, while holding Tabor to 30 percent from the field.
“We did a really good job of starting really strong and playing with a lot of emotion and intensity,” freshman Ashley Werner said.
The Wildcats led 20-18 going into halftime, however, they weren’t able to stay ahead of William Woods.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball, with William Woods hitting only 33 percent of its shots and Baker knocking down 32 percent.
Senior Aubree Gustin led the team with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Following close behind her was senior Audrey Bryant with 10 points and seven rebounds and senior Emily Gibson with eight points, six rebounds.
“Defensively, we were really good,” head coach Susan Decker said. “We held them at about 50 points and William Woods was averaging about 70, so that was good.”
Rachel Baker and Sharron Andrews led the way for William Woods, scoring 19 points, and grabbing nine rebounds, and scoring 16 points respectively.
Decker also praised senior Courtney Goodrum for her work on the court.
“(Courtney) played with a lot of desire and intensity,” Decker said.
The team continues to struggle with turnovers. Baker had 26 turnovers against William Woods and 21 against Tabor.
Werner thinks the more the team plays, the better turnovers will get and believes the defense will improve.
Decker said the team has played some difficult teams and needs to stay positive and continue to work hard.
“We’ve got to work on just the little fundamental things that have haunted us the past week and a half or so,” Decker said.
The team started conference play against Benedictine College Thursday in Atchison, however results were not available at presstime.
The Benedictine game is the first road game for the Wildcats after having three straight games in Collins Center.
Werner said the team is looking forward to conference play, despite the challenging schedule. She believes the team is ready to step up to the challenge and is hoping for wins before winter break.
“Even in those games we lost, we’ve done a lot of good things and they helped us build a lot of character, which I think will help us down the road,” Werner said.
The Wildcats play Lindenwood University at 2 p.m. Saturday in Collins Center.
Last season, the Wildcats finished 13-7 in the conference, which put them in a three-way tie for third place with Avila University and Benedictine.
