Pride's strong start leads to comfortable 80-64 win at Baker

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. - In their second-straight weekend on the road in the Kansas City area, the Clarke University women's basketball team earned a 16-point victory over Baker University on Saturday afternoon.

The Pride welcomed the return of senior guard Nicole McDermott after she missed Wednesday night's game due to injury as she flourish in her return to the starting line up, finishing with a game-high 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field while adding seven rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes.

Clarke used a 26-14 first quarter into a 19-14 second quarter to boost their halftime lead to 45-28 after 20 minutes as there was never really a signficant run that created the lead and the extension of the lead just consistent chipping away only allowing one BU basket to their two or three.

It was a lot of the same in the second half but the Wildcats outscored CU by six in the third to bring it to an 11-point game heading into the final period but the Pride would extend the lead to its largest at 22 points with just over two minutes remaining to seal away their 21st win of the season.

All five starters for the Pride finished in double figures as Taylor Haase finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, Izzie Peterson scored 11 while adding six rebounds, three assists, and a steal, and both Maci Kuchta and Mya Merschman finished with 10 apiece.

Baker had three players in double figures led by Emma Cunningham's 21 to match McDermott's game-high as she shot 9-of-18 from the field and added five rebounds with both Jaelyn Two Hearts (16) and Leah Van Weelden (15) finishing towards the top of the scoring leaders on Saturday but no one else on the Wildcats had more than five points in the game.

Clarke women's basketball will be back on the road next Wednesday when they head down to Cedar Rapids for a rematch against Mount Mercy University for a 5:30 p.m. CT between the Mustangs and Pride.