ST. LOUIS – An early lead looked promising, but Lyon College defeated the Missouri Baptist women's basketball team tonight, 75-52. The loss drops the Spartans to 5-10 on the season and 3-4 in American Midwest Conference play.

Senior guard Kristyne Smyth led the Spartans with 16 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field, 7-for-7 from the charity stripe, and also pulled down four rebounds. She has now scored in double-digits in 8-of-13 games this season.

Haley Elders made 5-of-7 shots from the field en route to 10 points for MBU. She also pulled down four rebounds. Elders recorded just 24 points through the first 11 games of the season, but has scored 34 points over the last four contests.

Freshman Kennedy Smith led the Spartans with seven rebounds, with two coming in the offensive zone. She pitched in nine points on the night.

The Spartans had a tough night of shooting, making just 18-of-48 (37%) shots from the floor, and 2-of-13 (15%) from the land of plenty. The Scots won the rebounding battle, 39-27. Lyon made 28-of-63 (44%) shots from the field and 13-of-15 (87%) shots from the free throw line.

Missouri Baptist held an 11-9 lead after Elders and Smyth paced the scoring over the first 5:18 of play. Smyth scored five points and Elders chipped in four points during the early lead.

The Scots went on a fierce 19-1 over the next 7:27 and led 28-12 with 6:19 left in the first half.

The Spartans were able to cut the deficit to 28-18 with 4:37 left in the half, but Lyon maintained the double-digit lead the remainder of the half, and held a 36-24 lead at the break.

In the second half, Haley Elders hit a mid-range jumper to cut the Lyon lead to just 36-28 with 18:23 left in the game. The Scots quickly erased any chance at an MBU comeback and increased the lead to double-digits.

The Scots ended the game on top, 75-52 after owning the battle in the paint, 36-22.

Missouri Baptist will look to get back into the win column on Saturday when they host Harris-Stowe at 2:00.