(Peru, Neb.)—The Peru State women's basketball team defeated Baker 67-60 on Saturday afternoon ending its season with a win. The Bobcats finish the season 10-18 overall and 6-16 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play while the Wildcats finish 13-14 overall and 9-13 in conference play.
The Bobcats did not finish in the top of eight of the conference standings and therefore did not qualify for the Heart Conference Tournament. The Wildcats finished in eighth place and will face the No. 1 seed Central Methodist on Wednesday, February 22.
Below is a breakdown of how the game went…
It was 4-4 early before the Wildcats went on a 8-2 run to take a 12-6 lead with under three minutes to play in the first quarter of action. Peru State then went on a 7-0 run to take a 13-12 lead with under a minute to play in the first.
Contributing to the run was a basket by Sam Stewart
(Mount Ayr, Iowa), and free throws by
Natasha Deal (Winnebago),
Olivia Williams (Minneapolis, Minn.) and
Jescenia Mosley (Shenandoah, Iowa).
Baker hit a three at the horn to take a 15-13 lead heading into the second quarter. Deal tied the game at 15 immediately in the second. The Bobcats and the Wildcats then went back-and-forth for the next few possessions.
Peru State would ultimately take a 21-19 lead after Stewart made a layup with 7:23 remaining in the half. Then it was tied 23-23 for the next few minutes as no one could break the tie.
Baker broke the tie with a free throw but then free throws by
Maddy Duncan (Hamburg, Iowa) had Peru State regain the lead at 25-24 with three minutes to play in the half.
The Wildcats and Bobcats traded a few more buckets but the Wildcats would take a 29-27 lead into halftime.
Baker extended its lead out to six immediately in the third quarter as they were leading 33-27. Then Duncan got fouled on a three-point attempt and she knocked down all three free throws as it was 33-30 with eight minutes to play in the third quarter.
The Wildcats then went on a 8-2 run to take a 41-32 lead with under four minutes to play in the third. Peru State then came roaring back with a run of its own. The Bobcats went on 10-2 run trailing by one at the end of the third.
Contributing to run were baskets by
Danielle Howard (Uniontown, Kan.),
Kaylan Larry (Little Rock, Ark.), Duncan, a three pointer by Duncan and a free throw as well.
Stewart opened up the fourth with a layup giving the Bobcats the one point lead. A little later on Duncan gave the Bobcats a two-point lead up 47-45 with nine minutes to play in the game.
A 5-0 run by the Wildcats gave them the lead back by three up 50-47. Howard then tied the game with a three-pointer of her own as the game was now 50 all.
A bit later in the fourth two buckets from Stewart gave the Bobcats a slim three-point lead 54-51 with around five minutes to play. The game was then tied at 54 all for the next few minutes.
Mosley and Howard broke the tie with a free throw and a layup as Peru State was up 57-54 with three minutes to play. Stewart made a huge play with under two minutes stealing the ball giving the Bobcats the possession.
Howard knocked down two free throws to make the score 59-54. The Bobcats had ice in their veins as they made multiple free throws down the stretch, with around 45 seconds left the score was 63-56 after Howard knocked down two more free throws.
A three by Baker cut the lead down to four points. The Wildcats could not get any closer than that as the Bobcats closed them out winning 67-60.
Peru State shot 21-of-55 from the field shooting 38.2%, 3-of-8 from deep shooting 37.5% and 22-of-28 from the line shooting 78.6%.
Baker shot 20-of-50 from the field shooting 40%, 5-of-17 from beyond the arc shooting 29.4% and 15-of-27 from the charity stripe shooting 55.6%.
Baker outscored Peru State 26-14 in the paint, both teams had 19 points off turnovers and Baker had 41 bench points comparatively to Peru State's 13.
Duncan led the way with 20 points, Stewart finished with 16 points and Howard put in 11 points. Stewart had a team-high seven rebounds. Larry led the way in assists with four.
Peru State women's basketball looks to build on the win and will return next fall.
