ST. LOUIS – After playing evenly to William Woods (Mo.) in the first quarter, Missouri Baptist was unable to match the intensity of the home team. Missouri Baptist shot 39 percent from the floor on Thursday in a 73-64 loss to the Owls in Fulton, Mo.
Missouri Baptist (4-2, 2-1 AMC) looked to keep its American Midwest Conference record unblemished, but could not stop a second-half surge by the Owls as they went on to claim their league-leading third win in the AMC.
The Spartans trailed by just three points at the half, but the Owls quickly extended the lead after the break. Peyton Greenlee dropped a three-pointer to get things started in the third quarter as the Owls needed under three minutes to get the lead to 10. The lead went to 11 before the final horn sounded of the quarter, which proved to be too big of a hole for the Spartans to crawl out of.
Missouri Baptist picked-up the pace in the final two minutes, however, and closed the gap. The Spartans put together an 11-3 run before Shay Robinson was fouled on a three-point attempt putting one of the best Spartan shooters at the line trailing by six with 37 seconds remaining. The senior guard, however, made one of her three attempts, which cut the lead to five.
William Woods finished with a 4-0 run, two of which were courtesy of Jasmine Brown free throws, and closed-out the hopes of a Missouri Baptist comeback.
Amanda Rowden led the Spartan charge on the night with a season-high 18 points. The senior was second on the team in playing time to her sister Alissa.
Briya Wilborn also finished in double figures with 12 points and three steals.
Jasmine Brown led the Owl offense on Thursday with 18 points, while Kaycee Gerald collected her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Bailey Rollins and Peyton Greenlee both finished with 14 points as they helped their team to a 5-3 record on the year.
The Spartans will continue AMC play on Saturday as they head down I-64 to Harris-Stowe (Mo.) to take-on the Hornets. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at the Emerson Performance Center in Midtown.
