WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. – The Missouri Baptist University women's basketball team led after three quarters on Thursday, but couldn't finish off the Lady Eagles down the stretch in a 53-46 loss on the road. Williams Baptist (16-10, 12-9 AMC) outscored the MBU 15-7 in the fourth quarter and held the Spartans to just two field goals in the final 10 minutes.
With the loss, the Spartans dropped to 7-18 overall and 6-15 in the American Midwest Conference. And with three games remaining on the schedule, the team is officially out of contention for a bid to the eight-team AMC postseason tournament.
The Spartans started the game off on the right foot shooting the ball, going 6-for-9 in the first quarter. While they held the advantage in field goal percentage, their ultimate demise was the turnover battle. In the first quarter alone, MBU turned the ball over 10 times and found themselves down 18-14 despite shooting 66 percent from the field and a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point range.
Head coach
Samuel Pearson and the coaching staff said the right things in between quarters as the Spartans were much better when possessing the ball. They turned the ball over only three times in the second quarter and defensively turned it up a notch. Missouri Baptist limited the Lady Eagles to just six points and 18 percent shooting. After outscoring WBU 12-6, the Spartans went into halftime with a narrow 26-24 lead.
It was another strong quarter defensively for the Spartans as they once again held Williams Baptist to three field goals and an even lower shooting percentage (.136). Despite the poor shooting, the Lady Eagles kept it close after going 7-for-7 at the charity stripe.
The fourth quarter blues ensued for Missouri Baptist. The Spartans couldn't hit from long range (0-of-5) and went 2-of-13 from the field to end the game.
Thursday's contest marked the first game all season that the Spartans didn't have a player score in double figures.
Le'Ondra Wilson and
Rose Wassef were both 3-for-7 from the field with eight points apiece to lead the Spartans in the low-scoring event.
MBU's road trip continues in Henderson, Tenn. when they take on No. 2-ranked Freed-Hardeman University on Saturday at 1 p.m.
