ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist Women's Basketball put together a strong effort and made it close in the third quarter against a talented William Woods Owls squad. The Spartan offense sputtered down the stretch, however, as the home team suffered an 85-57 loss in St. Louis on Thursday.
On a night where cancer awareness was at the forefront in the annual Coaches vs. Cancer game, Missouri Baptist (7-12, 6-9 AMC) couldn't find the key to start the offense in the loss. The Spartans shot 32 percent on the night as the team fell to 6-9 in American Midwest Conference.
The Spartans shot just 25 percent in the first half and trailed by nine heading into the break, but played solid defense. Throughout the opening 20 minutes, Missouri Baptist forced nine turnovers and recorded four steals as it held the Owls to just 33 points.
As the offense improved in the second half, however, the Owls' shooting heated up. William Woods, led by Jasmine Brown's 19 points and seven rebounds, put together a big finish in St. Louis to snag its 10th win in the AMC in 2016-17.
Missouri Baptist nearly pulled even in the early stages of the third quarter, but could not sustain the momentum. The Spartans went on a 6-0 run to begin the new half of basketball to make it a 33-30 game, but the Owls responded with a three-ball from Kelsey Scherder and slowly extended their lead to 17 as time expired in the third.
The Spartans were led by the dual threat of Danna Jenkins and Shay Robinson. For Robinson, the junior from Decatur, Ill., it was her 13th game in double digits this season.
Missouri Baptist will now head out on a tough extended road trip where they will face two teams ranked in the NAIA Top 25 in No. 24 Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) and No. 9 Lyon (Ark.).
A wild night in American Midwest Conference play on Thursday may play tricks with the standings as the final month of the regular season will begin next week. A Harris-Stowe (Mo.) upset over No. 12-ranked Columbia (Mo.) will cause havoc at the top while a Park (Mo.) defeat of Central Baptist will make things tight for the teams looking to slip into the Conference Tournament picture.
Missouri Baptist will travel to Belleville, Ill., to take on the Lady Lynx on Saturday. Tip-off at the Lynx Arena is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
