ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist built a large lead in the beginning of the first half on Thursday night's women's basketball game with Harris Stowe, but could not maintain the lead in an 84-78 loss on the road.
Missouri Baptist (9-15, 6-6 AMC) went into Thursday night's tilt with Harris Stowe looking to build off a three game win streak. The team did just that from the beginning of the game and built a 21-9 lead after 10 minutes had passed in the first half.
Just as things looked to be well within the control of Missouri Baptist, Harris Stowe came charging back. The Hornets went on a 16-5 run to make it a one-point, 26-25 MBU advantage.
With just over a minute left, Harris Stowe took its first lead of the night, a 32-31 lead, which it quickly extended to 35-31. By the end of the half, after a three-pointer by HSSU's Alexis Minner with under 10 seconds remaining, the Hornets held a 38-33 advantage heading into the break.
As the second half got underway, it was more of the same. The teams traded buckets on the first two possessions, but the Spartans made-up ground quickly and cut the deficit to 44-42 by the 17-minute mark. Then, just seconds later, MBU tied the game on a shot from six feet out by Lauren Taylor to make the score 44-44.
The Hornets responded with a 5-0 run in their next two possessions and set the tone of how the game would end. Both teams continued to trade runs of five or more, but as the game wound down. The Hornets had taken a seven-point, 69-62 lead with 5:27 remaining and never relinquished the lead from this point.
The Spartans cut the lead to one with two minutes left but could not close thanks to the lights-out shooting of Harris Stowe's Minner. The sophomore out of Ritenour made things difficult for MBU all night. She finished the game with 29 points and went 5-5 from three-point range. Kayla Fisher (15 points), Shanique Buford (10 points) and KeAris Vaughn (11 points) also finished with double-digit point totals. Harris Stowe shot 61 percent in the second-half on the way to a 53 percent night from the floor.
For the Spartans, Lauren Taylor led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds. Iesha McDaniel also had a nice game for MBU and finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. Kristyne Smyth and Mandy Kirby combined for 25 points and were the only others to finish in double-digits.
The Spartans will look to rebound on Saturday against Benedictine University-Springfield. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex.
