BALDWIN CITY – The Benedictine Women’s Basketball team got a game-high 26 points from Chayla Rutledge while outscoring No. 21 Baker University 26-11 off the bench en route to a 77-73 upset win on the road Thursday night.

Benedictine (11-4, 4-0 Heart) was anchored by a 50-percent 3-point shooting effort in the second half as they took the first match up of the season over Baker (9-5, 2-2 Heart).

After playing to a 43-43 tie at the half, Benedictine outscored Baker 43-39 in the second half as Rutledge scored 16 of her game-high effort in the second half.

The second half alone saw five ties and four lead changes with both teams building as much as a six-point lead.

Baker’s six-point lead came with 12 minutes remaining in the game before Benedictine outscore the Wildcats 13-1 over the next four minutes to take a 59-53 lead with just over eight minutes remaining.

The two teams continued to match each other offensively, with Baker battling back to take over the lead briefly inside the final three minutes of the game.

Rutledge converted on two free throws with two minutes and 37 seconds remaining to push the game to its eighth tie before converting on back-to-back 3-pointers to push Benedictine ahead for good.

While Rutledge converted on 5 of 6 from beyond the arc and connected on 7 of 8 at the free throw line, the Raven bench scoring was anchored by the 14-point effort of Kristen Murphy.

Murphy went 6 of 8 from the floor and converted on both of her free-throw attempts.

Jayde Reid finished with eight points to round out the Ravens top scorers.

Kyrstie Ehm led Baker with 17 points as three Wildcats reached double figures.

The win for Benedictine sets up a showdown for the early lead in the Heart of America Athletic Conference on Saturday as the Ravens host No. 14 MNU in Atchison.

Game time between the Ravens and the Pioneers is set for 2 p.m.

— BC Sports Information —