(Peru, Neb.) – Despite a major height difference and not having their leading scorer, the Peru State women's basketball team gave the visiting Baker University Wildcats everything they wanted and more Thursday night. The Wildcats eventually won 70-64.
With the win, Baker, who was receiving votes in this week's NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, improved to 12-4 overall and 6-3 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. The Bobcats fell to 5-12 overall and 2-7 in conference play.
Justice Daniel heads
to the bucket for two of
her 12 pointsFirst Quarter Action After a defensive rebound by
Justice Daniel (Olathe, Kan.), the Bobcats went down the court and
Sydney Wilkinson (St. Joseph, Mo.) hit a jumper to take an early 2-0 lead. Later, Daniel would hit a pair of free throws to increase the Bobcats' lead to 4-0 with 8:20 left in the first quarter. Baker would respond with an 8-0 run before Daniel would drain a three off an assist from
Madara Laure (Riga, Latvia) to make it 8-7 with 6:12 remaining in the first ten minutes.
Baker would respond with the next four points to go up 12-7 before
Jackie Beaugard (Omaha) would hit a bucket in the paint off an assist from Daniel. Peru State would be within three at 14-11 after Beaugard made a pair of free throws with 3:04 left. The Wildcats would finish the quarter on a 6-1 run and led 20-12 after the first quarter.
Second Quarter Action Celine Jolicoeur (Elmont, N.Y.) made one of two free throws to start the second quarter.
Rashaun Casey (Rogers, Ark.) grabbed the offensive rebound on Jolicouer's miss and fed the ball back to Jolicoeur who put in it to make it 20-15 at the 9:33 mark. After trailing 24-17, back-to-back treys by Jolicoeur cut the deficit to one at 24-23 with 8:04 left. Wilkinson was credited for the first assist to Jolicoeur with Laure dishing the second dime.
Jackie Beaugard looks to set up the
play. Beaugard finished with 14 points. At the 6:26 mark, Wilkinson hit a lay-up to put Peru State up 25-24, but that was short-lived as the Wildcats hit a trey and then one of two free throws to lead 28-25. Laure would hit a bucket and later, Wilkinson would hit another bucket and the Bobcats would be back in front 29-28 with 4:34 to go in the first half. Again, Baker would close out the first 20 minutes with another run as they outscored Peru State 7-2 and led 35-31 at the halftime break.
Third Quarter Action The Bobcats continued to fight as
Kealy Ensminger (Homer) started the quarter with a bucket on an assist from Daniel to cut the lead to two. The Wildcats followed with a bucket, but buckets by Laure and Beaugard tied the game at 37-37 with 6:02 left in the third. Baker came right back with a score, but the next time down the court Daniel drained a trey to put Peru State up 40-39.
This apparently fired up the Wildcats as they went on an 8-0 run and led 47-40 with 3:20 remaining in the quarter. Laure stepped up and hit a trey on an assist from Jolicoeur to cut the deficit to four and then followed that up with a pair of free throws. With 2:53 left in the quarter, Peru State trailed 47-45. Baker would finish the quarter with the same lead they had at halftime as the period ended with the Wildcats leading 51-47.
Madara Laure boxes out on a Baker free throw ....Laure
led the Bobcats with 17 points and eight rebounds Fourth Quarter Action Baker scored the first seven points of the fourth stanza forcing the Bobcats to work harder from behind and that is exactly what Peru State did. Beaugard stopped the run with a bucket at the 7:11 mark. The Bobcats did manage to get back within four with 56 seconds left on the clock when Laure hit another trey to make the score 68-64. Peru State did have other chances to score, but failed to connect and Baker hung on for a 70-64 win.
BAKER GAME BOOK Team Statistics The Wildcats finished the game making 25 of 57 field goals for 43.9% with a big portion of those goals coming at very close range. From behind the arc, Baker made just 2 of 7 for 28.6%. The Wildcats completed 18 of 26 free throw tries for 69.2%. Peru State hit just 21 of 62 field goals for 33.9% and actually shot better from long range as they hit 8 of 23 treys for 34.8%. The Bobcats had one of their better nights at the free throw line as they made 14 of 16 for 87.5%.
The much-taller Wildcats had a big rebounding advantage as they snared 45 boards compared to Peru State's 29. The Bobcats forced 19 Baker turnovers while committing only 12. Peru State had ten assists while the Wildcats dished out nine. Baker blocked four shots while the Bobcats had two. Peru State nabbed nine steals while Baker had four.
Individual Statistics Four Bobcats finished in double figures with Laure leading the way with 17 points on 5 of 10 shooting including 3 of 6 from long range. Beaugard finished with 14 points while Daniel added 12. Jolicoeur came off the bench to add ten.
Celine Jolicoeur drives the baseline late in
the game. Jolicoeur came off the bench
to score ten points. Laure was also the team's leading rebounder with eight with Beaugard and Daniel each grabbing five. Wilkinson dished out a game-high three assists with Laure and Daniel each contributing two.
Wilkinson also led the team with a game-high four steals while Laure, Daniel, Ensminger,
Heather Brekke (Sunrise, Fla.), and
Kiley Guerue (Morrill) each added one. Jolicoeur was credited with both blocked shots.
Upcoming Games On Saturday, Peru State will be traveling to Kansas City, Mo., to face Avila University at 2 p.m. The Eagles are currently 2-14 and 1-8 in the Heart as they defeated Graceland Thursday night in a home contest.
The Bobcats will be back home next Wednesday, Jan. 20, when the Grand View Vikings visit for a game at 5:30 p.m. Grand View has lost two in a row and are 6-9 overall and 3-6 in conference play.
Peru State will be recognizing the Auburn Public Schools that evening for being named one of the top five schools in the state. In addition, Auburn City Recreation basketball teams will be noted.
