ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Baptist University women's basketball team dropped an 80-68 decision at home on Monday evening in non-conference action against Evangel University. Spoiling the Spartans' final game of 2019 was a Crusader squad that was efficient in the earlygoing and dangerous from long range.
 
On Monday, Evangel (7-5, 5-2 HAAC) exploited MBU's 3-point defense knocking down 15 triples with 10 of them in the first half. One Crusader who was particularly hard to contain was freshman Alexis Cauthon. The 5-10 guard from Wichita, Kan. was a perfect 5-for-5 from three in the first half and totaled nine on the day. Cauthon went off for a game-high 31 points on 10-of-13 shooting and 9-of-12 from 3-point land.
 
The damage was done in the first quarter when the Crusaders took an early 21-8 lead. MoBap nearly played them even in the second quarter, but still trailed the visitors by 15 at half – 39-24.
 
Out of the break, EU tried to put the game away, increasing its advantage to as much as 20. The Spartans had a different plan. Providing a spark in the third quarter for MBU was freshmen Taylor Norris and Alexis Allstun, who combined for 20 of the Spartans' 24 points in the period. To top it off, Norris got everyone's attention in the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports & Recreation Complex with a buzzer beater from about 30 feet out. MBU closed the gap to 10 thanks to Norris' bank shot as time expired.
 
The momentum carried over into the final quarter for the Spartans as they got a bucket and the foul to start things off. The Tionne Taylor 3-point play narrowed the deficit to seven marking the first time since 5:24 (1Q) that Evangel was leading by just single digits.
 
While Evangel's remarkable 3-point shooting clip came back down to reality in the second half (.384), the Crusaders converted when they needed it the most. Cauthon – the thorn in MBU's side – halted a 10-0 run with her eighth 3-pointer of the night at the 8:32 mark. EU held off the Spartans to snap its three-game losing skid.
 
With the loss, the Spartans dipped to 3-8 overall.
 
Sophomore guard Tionne Taylor recorded her fourth game this season with 20+ points. She led the Spartans with a team-high 21 points (7-15 FG, 6-7 FT) while also chipping in 3 steals, 3 assists and 3 rebounds. Taylor Norris found her groove in the second half to finish with 19 points (6-11 FG, 4-8 3FG, 3-3 FT), 5 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals.
 
Joining Taylor and Norris in double figure scoring was Alexis Allstun with 10 points. Contributing key minutes off the bench were Nicole Griesenauer (5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assists), Kamryn Mack (3 points, 1 rebound) and Sara Hermosa (3 blocks).
 
The American Midwest Conference (AMC) schedule picks back up on Saturday as the Spartans host William Woods University at 1 p.m.