ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Baptist women's basketball squad fell to Hannibal La-Grange tonight, 59-54. The Spartans made a late run in the final minutes, but ran out of time to complete the comeback.
Missouri Baptist (10-18, 8-12 AMC) shot a very solid 42 percent (19-of-45) from the floor, and made 15-of-18 shots from the free throw line.
Hannibal-LaGrange (9-19, 9-11 AMC) was lights out from the floor, hitting 24-of-48 shots. The Trojans won the rebounding battle, 29-24.
Taylor Klingelhoefer came of the bench to lead the Spartans with 17 points. She hit 6-of-8 shots from the field, including all four free throw shots. Kristyne Smyth hit 4-of-12 points from the field, and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe en route to 14 points. Freshman Kennedy Smith was the other Spartans to score in double-digits, racking up 10 points on 5-of-9 from the floor.
Jasmine Jackson led the Spartans with five rebounds.
Missouri Baptist trailed 29-20 at the halftime break after shooting 27 percent from the floor on 6-of-22 shots. The Trojans were nearly unstoppable on offense, as they hit 13-of-22 shots from the floor, 59 percent.
The second half did not start out well for the Spartans, as HLG bumped its lead to 14 points with 17:20 left in the contest, 35-21.
After the Spartans flirted with a single-digit deficit, HLG was able to once again extend the lead to 14 points. The Trojans led 45-31 with 11:03 left in the contest.
The Spartans began to chip away at the deficit over the final 10 minutes.
With just 46 second left in the game, Missouri Baptist trailed 56-52 after the full-court press forced an HLG turnover.
Hannibal-LaGrange was able to break the press on the following possession and hit an easy layup, extending their lead to six points.
Missouri Baptist threw the ball away on its next possession, which sealed the deal for the contest. The Spartans ended the contest on the wrong-end of the score, 59-54.
Missouri Baptist hosts Park University on Thursday, in which the Spartans will honor their seniors. Tipoff is set for 5:30 pm.
