Springfield, Mo. – 23rd ranked Baker outscored Evangel 13-4 in the final 3:51 of regulation to beat the Crusaders 77-69 at the Ashcroft Center on Wednesday.
The Wildcats trailed 65-64 but took the lead after Sydney Buchel grabbed an offensive rebound and scored. Baker never trailed again and used free throws in the final two minutes to close out the game for an eight-point win.
The loss thwarted an Evangel comeback that had them behind by 15 points in the first half. The Crusaders trailed 20-7 after the first quarter but outscored the Wildcats 26-12 in the second quarter to lead 33-32 at halftime. Evangel built on the lead going up 56-52 after three quarters before Baker pulled even and took control late.
Reggine Brown led Evangel with 17 points while Allison Swanson had 16 points and five rebounds. Jami Hodge had 20 points and Ericka Simpson 19 for Baker.
Evangel fell to 2-6 and 1-2 in the Heart of America conference. Baker raised their record to 7-2 and 2-1 in the league.
The Crusaders return to the court on Saturday with a conference game at Graceland. Tipoff is 2 p.m. in Lamoni, Iowa.
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