ST. LOUIS – Fresh off of its big win at home over (RV) Freed-Hardeman on Friday, Missouri Baptist Women's Basketball turned right back around on Saturday to deliver a come-from-behind victory over previously-unbeaten St. Ambrose University. Navigating uncharted territory and playing from behind, the Spartans answered the call and from 14 down to defeat SAU, 86-75.
"Playing back-to-back games, Freed-Hardeman yesterday – a perennial powerhouse in NAIA Women's Basketball – and then this 3-0 St. Ambrose team that's well coached, runs great offensive sets and dominates the paint offensively and defensively, this was a gritty win for us," Missouri Baptist head coach
Samuel Pearson said.
Any momentum MoBap had heading into Saturday's battle of the unbeatens disappeared from the onset. The Spartans came out flat and were unable to hit shots in the first quarter going 3-for-18 (.166) from the field and 0-for-6 from 3-point range. Fortunately, the defense held it together fairly well and helped the Spartans escape what could have been a disastrous quarter down by just seven (13-6).
Things worsened before they got better as St. Ambrose extended its lead to as much as 14 with 2:24 remaining in the half. The turning point came right under the 2-minute mark with back-to-back threes from
Kenzie Burt and
Tionne Taylor capped off with a pair of
Taylor Norris buckets. MBU closed out the half on a 10-0 run and trailed the Fighting Bees, 29-25. The Spartans also improved their shooting percentage to 33.3% overall thanks to an 8-of-15 clip in the second quarter.
Missouri Baptist continued to score with ease in the third quarter, however, one particular player kept the Fighting Bees from handing over the lead. SAU center Madeline Prestegaard made her presence known in the paint registering 11 of her 20 points in the third. Much like the end of the first half, MBU stayed the course one possession at a time and made its move in the last two minutes of the period. Back-to-back treys by
Lauren Ebert and
Taylor Norris knotted the game at 54-all heading into the fourth.
A
Sara Hermosa 3-pointer right out of the gate provided the Spartans with their first lead of the game since the 8:43 in the first quarter (2-0). MBU kept feeding the hot hands and shot a blazing 71.4% from the floor and knocked down 9 of its 12 free throws down the stretch.
In all, MoBap put up 61 points in the third and fourth quarters combined, marking the most points scored in a half since 2010 when the Spartans put up 63 on Harris-Stowe State.
Taylor Norris led the team in scoring (21) on Saturday with her second straight performance with 20+ points. The sophomore point guard added 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals to the ledger. She has now scored in double figures in each game this season and is averaging 18.5 ppg.
Tionne Taylor was next in line with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting along with 2 assists and 2 steals.
One of the bigger storylines on Saturday was the 28 bench points and the spark provided by sophomore guard
Lauren Ebert and her career day. In 18 minutes of action, the Francis Howell Central product contributed 7 rebounds, 2 assists and went off for a career-high 15 points. Ebert was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and a perfect 4-for-4 from the FT line.
Joelle Atkins had herself another busy day at the office leading the team in both rebounds (11) and blocks (3).
The Spartans' game with No. 23-ranked Saint Xavier University originally scheduled for Friday, Dec. 18 has been canceled due to SXU's COVID-19 protocol. Currently, MBU next scheduled contest is a non-conference meeting at home with Missouri Valley College on Jan. 2.
