BELLEVILLE, Ill. – Missouri Baptist University women's basketball was unable to pick up its third win in a row on Thursday as the team suffered a 74-61 setback on the road at Lindenwood University-Belleville (7-2, 5-1 AMC). The ultimate backbreaker for MBU was a runaway second quarter in which the Lynx outscored the Spartans, 29-6.
The unfortunate part of Thursday's loss is that the Spartans outscored Lindenwood-Belleville in three out of the four quarters. Between the 1
st, 3
rd and 4
th period, Missouri Baptist outscored the Lynx, 55-45. In 11 all-time meetings with Lindenwood-Belleville, the Spartans have yet to secure a victory.
MBU guard
Tionne Taylor and reigning AMC Women's Basketball Player of the Week Brianna Mueller put on a shooting clinic scoring 26 points apiece for their respective squads. The 26 points for Taylor tied a previous season high during the Spartans early season trip to the Grand View University Classic. On the day, the McKendree University transfer shot 8-of-14 from the floor and a perfect 9-of-9 from the free-throw line.
After a productive opening quarter and 17-13 advantage, MBU went cold, while Lindenwood-Belleville turned up the heat offensively. During the 29-6 second-quarter performance, LU-B shot 75 percent from the field and a near-perfect 5-of-6 (.833) from 3-point land.
Missouri Baptist (2-7, 2-4 AMC) couldn't gain much traction in the third and entered the final period with a 17-point deficit. The Spartans made up ground in the fourth quarter with the help of
Tionne Taylor's hot hand as well as point guard
Taylor Norris. A 2-point bucket by
Kaylynn Hayden with 2:32 remaining moved the Spartans into single-digit territory for the first time since the second quarter, but eight points is the closest they could get to the Lynx.
Outside of Taylor, the two biggest contributors offensively for Missouri Baptist were
Taylor Norris with 8 points (3-for-13) and sophomore forward
Sara Hermosa with 8 points (3-for-5). Defensively
Kenzie Burt and
Joelle Atkins held down the fort with a team-best 4 rebounds apiece.
MBU will have one more exhibition contest with NCAA DII Missouri S&T (Dec. 17) followed by a home contest with Harris-Stowe State University (1-7, 0-4 AMC).
