St. Louis, Missouri – Despite a competitive first half that saw the Spartans down by just three at the intermission, Missouri Baptist Women's Basketball came apart at the seams in the second and suffered its worst loss of the season to No. 17 Central Methodist, 77-50.
 
The 2021-22 home opener with the Eagles was arguably the biggest test that MoBap had faced so far. Both teams came out of the gate hoping to show a competitive edge, and the game had a spirited intensity throughout the first two quarters. The Spartans gained the lead with the first basket of the game, and even though the Eagles got it back and led the rest of the way, MBU never looked out of it and never let Central Methodist gain more than a six-point advantage during the first 20 minutes.
 
The second half was a different story. After MoBap hit 40 points with three minutes left in the third, still trailing by seven, the Eagles scored the next 13 to make it a 20-point advantage going to the fourth. The visitors were paced by Daryna Bachkarova, who netted 18, and was one of four starters in double figures. The Spartans were not able to recover from the deficit and dropped its fifth game of the season to make its record 2-5.
 
Senior Tionne Taylor was the leading scorer for the sixth time this season, pouring in 19 to lead all scorers. Taylor also tied for most rebounds for the home side with Junior Jamie Hopkins. Both pulled down 6. Junior Alexis Allstun, who surpassed her career high over the weekend with 30 in the Spartans game against Bethel (Ind.), was bottled up and only registered seven points which was good enough for second highest.
 
Missouri Baptist was outdone as a team in the rebound department (52-33) along with points in the paint (36-10), fast break points (16-2) and second chance scoring (17-3). The Spartans were spotty from the free throw line also, converting only 50% at the charity stripe.
 
Missouri Baptist looks to bounce back with another home test as it welcomes another Heart of America conference member in Baker University to the Petty SRC on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 2:00 pm.