ST. LOUIS – A 19-point lead in the fourth quarter allowed Missouri Baptist Women's Basketball to stave off a late rally by St. Louis College of Pharmacy on Tuesday evening. MBU escaped from STLCOP Gymnasium with a 68-61 conference win over the Eutectics thanks to strong performances off the bench from several Spartans.
 
Missouri Baptist improved its record to 4-9 overall and 4-5 in American Midwest Conference games while ending a two-game skid. St. Louis College of Pharmacy fell to 5-8, 2-6 AMC and is now two games back from the Spartans, who are in eighth place.
 
Following an evenly-matched first quarter that saw the Eutectics ahead by four, Missouri Baptist defied the odds and put together its best second quarter of the year. Entering the game, the Spartans had been outscored 238-189 in the second period, however on Tuesday, MBU scored 22 to STLCOP's 10. With seven different play scoring in the quarter, it was an all-around effort that gave the Spartans a 39-31 advantage heading into halftime.
 
MBU stretched its lead to 14 by the end of the third after outscoring St. Louis College of Pharmacy 17-11 in the quarter. One Spartan who had a breakout game coming off the bench was junior guard Rose Wassef. In 24 minutes of action, Wassef recorded season highs in scoring (15), rebounds (5) and steals (3) with nine of the points coming in the crucial third period.
 
Megan Fassino and Taylor Norris started out the final quarter with a bucket down low and a 3-pointer to give the Spartans their biggest lead of the game at 19. The hefty cushion proved to be important due to the Eutectics' eventual fourth-quarter comeback. MBU went almost six minutes in the period without a field goal. That allowed STLCOP to creep back into the game as the home team got within four with 18 seconds remaining. The Spartans did just enough to avoid a second-straight loss at the hands of the Eutectics.
 
Rose Wassef and Taylor Norris led the way in scoring with 15 points apiece. The latter nearly recorded a double-double in points and assists with 15 and 8. The freshman guard from Salem, Missouri also tallied 5 rebounds and 2 steals.
 
Joining Wassef and Norris in double figures was freshman Kaylynn Hayden for the second game in a row. Coming off of a 20-point performance against William Woods on Saturday, Hayden followed up her stellar showing with 14 points (6-of-10) and 5 rebounds in 17 minutes of action.
 
Making her second straight appearance in the starting lineup, sophomore Nicole Griesenauer made the most of her 22 minutes logging season highs in points (7), rebounds (6) and steals (1) along with 2 assists.
 
With starters Alexis Allstun and Tionne Taylor in foul trouble throughout the contest, several other Spartans stepped up in their absence. Freshman Lauren Ebert saw an uptick in minutes (18) and ended up contributing 3 points, 5 assists and a team-high 2 blocks. Upperclassman Megan Fassino pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds including 7 from the offensive glass.
 
With a home-heavy schedule in January, the MBU women return to the familiar confines of the Petty SRC on Thursday and Saturday with Williams Baptist University and Freed-Hardeman University.