ST. LOUIS – Leslie Damper's game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer rattled out and the Missouri Baptist women's basketball team took a hard loss to Williams Baptist, 76-75. The Spartans fell to 5-9 on the season and 3-3 in American Midwest Conference action.
Kristyne Smyth, Taylor Klingelhoefer and Jasmine Jackson all scored 15 points in the one point loss. Smyth made 5-of-14 shots from the field, sank 4-of-6 free throw shots and co-lead MBU with a career-high six assists. Klingelhoefer drained 5-of-8 shots from the field and made all four free throw attempts. Jackson tied a season-high 15 points and hit 7-of-11 field goal shots.
Haley Elders tied a career-high with 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting and led the Spartans with seven rebounds.
As a team, MBU shot 44 percent (26-of-59) from the field and drained 21-of-30 (70 percent) of shots from the charity stripe. Williams Baptist won the rebound battle, 45-32.
Williams Baptist jumped out to a 20-9 lead, but MBU fired back with an 12-2 run to cut the deficit to 22-21 with 8:11 left in the half. The Spartans hit 7-of-8 free throws during the run.
The teams traded baskets for the next five minutes, but the Eagles held the halftime lead, 41-37.
Klingelhoefer led MBU with nine points in the half and Smyth and Damper each had four assists.
The Spartans shot 35 percent (12-of-34) during the first 20 minutes, while Williams Baptist made 17-of-34 shots from the field.
In the second half, Kristyne Smyth took over for the Spartans. She drained a big three-pointer that cut the WBC lead to just 45-44 with 18:37 left in the game.
The Eagles answered back with a basket to increase the lead to three points, but it took Smyth just six seconds to shrink the deficit to one point, as she went coast-to-coast for the layup.
Head coach Iris Dixon called a timeout with 16:06 left in the game, which sparked Missouri Baptist to take its first lead of the game. Leslie Damper stripped the ball after the timeout and Jasmine Jackson hit a mid-range jumper. The basket gave MBU a 48-47 lead with 15:27 left in the contest.
Williams Baptist got back on top with 13:44 left in the game, but Smyth answered back with four points in a span of 20 seconds.
The Spartans would hold the lead for nearly four-straight minutes before the Eagles tied the game at 59-59 with 8:25 left in the game. The two teams would not be separated by more than four points the remaining eight minutes.
WBC held a 74-72 lead with 1:17 left in the game, but Smyth tied the game up with two free throws.
With 40 seconds left in the game, Smyth had a chance to tie the game once again with two free throws. She missed the first free throw and made the second, and Missouri Baptist trailed 76-75.
The Spartan defense forced Williams Baptist into a turnover with 21 seconds left in the game and had a chance to win the game on a last-second shot. Leslie Damper jacked up a potential game-winning three-pointer, but the ball rattled out as the horn sounded, ending with the Eagles earning the victory, 76-75.
Missouri Baptist will host Lyon College on Thursday night and Harris-Stowe on Saturday.
