ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] Jessica Moore has been close to a breakout game for the last month, but on Saturday in Conway, Ark., the junior from Eureka, Mo., finally put on display exactly what she is capable of. The guard crushed her previous career-high of 10 with a 27-point outburst and led Missouri Baptist to a 77-67 win over Central Baptist (Ark.).
Missouri Baptist (8-14, 7-11 AMC) put together a sound 40 minutes of basketball and was especially effective under the boards. The Spartans pulled-down 35 rebounds as a team in the win.
The offense flowed for both teams in the opening half, but it was Missouri Baptist that bested the Mustangs in the second quarter. After playing to a 20-20 tie in the first, the Spartans put together its best period of play this season and dropped 30 more on Central Baptist to take a 10-point, 50-40 lead.
Jessica Moore played over 31 minutes in the game coming off the bench and did the majority of her damage in the second quarter. She posted 14 of her 27 in the second frame and helped build a lead that the Spartans never relinquished.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Moore's game on Saturday was her perimeter shooting. Moore went 6-8 from beyond the arc on her way to the career game.
The Spartans led by as many as 18 in the fourth quarter before Central Baptist made a move in the final 3:07. The Mustangs finished the game on an 8-0 run, but the Missouri Baptist lead proved insurmountable.
In addition to Moore, Chanel Brown captured her first career double-double in the game. The junior from Chicago, Ill., recorded 17 points and 16 rebounds in the game.
Aliyah Block led the Mustangs over the course of the afternoon. The senior from Monticello, Ark., posted 20 points and went 8-12 from the floor. Morgan Fimpel followed with 12 and rounded-out the players in double digits.
Missouri Baptist shot 46.4 percent from the floor in the game, but the real strength was the three-point shooting. The Spartans went 9-20 from three-point range as they held firm in seventh place in the American Midwest Conference Standings with the victory.
Williams Baptist currently sits one game back of Missouri Baptist with a 6-12 conference record after an 82-72 win over Stephens (Mo.) on the road. The top eight teams in the final standings advance to the AMC Tournament in March.
Missouri Baptist will head back home for a pair of big games in St. Louis on Thursday and Saturday, set to host Park (Mo.) and Columbia (Mo.). Saturday's contest will be senior day and the last home game of the season for the Spartans.
