ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Missouri Baptist women's basketball team earns a very tough first loss of the season. The Spartans fell 61-60 to the visiting McKendree Bearcats in front of a packed gymnasium on Homecoming weekend.
The Spartans held a 60-59 lead with 11 seconds to go in the game, when Liz Gilman grabbed a huge offensive rebound and put back the layup to put the Bearcats on top 61-60 with 3.7 seconds to go.
Senior Mandy Kirby received the inbounds pass with the clock ticking away. Kirby drove down the court and put up a 3 point shot that fell just short. She appeared to get hit hard by two McKendree players and fell to the ground in pain, but no foul was called as the refs ran off the court very fast.
In the first half, the Spartans started off red hot going 6-6 from the field before their first miss five minutes into the game building a 12-5 lead. MBU continued to work hard and had a 14 point lead half way through the first half. The Bearcats battled back and cut the lead to eight at halftime, 36-28 in favor of MBU.
The Spartans came out just as strong in the second half. They looked like the team ready to finish off the Bearcats. MBU had a 15 point lead, the largest of the game, with just over ten minutes to go in the game, but the Bearcats weren't going down without a fight.
The Spartans had the lead 56-46 with 7:09 to go and seemed to hit a wall. They went just over three minutes without a field goal before Kristyne Symth hit a 3-pointer to put MBU up 59-51.
However, that would prove to be the last field goal the Spartans would make for the game going 0-5 for the final 3:21 of the game. MBU also had a crucial turnover with 22 seconds left in the game and still a 60-59 lead.
Smyth led the offense for the Spartans with 18 points and added two rebounds. Kirby was next with ten points and five rebounds. MBU shot 45 percent from the field for the first half while only shooting 28 percent for the second half.
The Spartans look to get back on track next Friday Nov. 16th in the Benedictine College Classic in Atchison, Kan. The game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
