St. Louis, Missouri – Riding a three-game win streak that included two conference wins heading into a matchup with Mount Mercy, the Missouri Baptist Women's Basketball team could not find itself defensively and surrendered defeat to the Mustangs on Saturday, 71-64, in the second to last game of the calendar year.
 
MoBap found itself in another back-and-forth contest for another game this season. Like many of the other non-conference matchups for the Spartans this season, things were tight through the first half, with the Mustangs outscoring the Spartans by three in both the first and second quarter. MBU, who kept it close throughout but never led aside from when it was 2-0, narrowed it to just three with eleven seconds left in the half on a triple by Senior Tionne Taylor, but a half-court buzzer beating prayer from Mount Mercy's Annika Headington resulted in a 37-31 scoreline at the break.
 
MBU, who was thin on the bench because of a JV game also happening on Saturday, struggled in the second half with foul trouble. Both starting forward Joelle Atkins and center Alexis Allstun found themselves out with five fouls midway through the final frame. Allstun, who had 10 points and nine rebounds, contributed heavily in the first half down low. Forward Kayleigh Winch, who scored nine or more points off the bench in three straight games including 11 in Saturday's contest, was a force in the second when filling in for Allstun and Atkins.
 
Junior Lauren Ebert continued her run of form and was the top point getter for the Spartans, notching 15. She had another strong rebounding game as well, getting eight boards. She was outdone in scoring by only the Mustangs' Kyla Richardson, who put up 21 on 60 percent shooting from the field (6-10) and from the free throw line (9-15). MBU point guard Rose Wassef registered a season high in assists with six, and Ebert followed closely with five of her own.
 
The end of the game could have gone either way, but after grabbing a five-point lead with four and a half minutes remaining, the Spartans defense faltered and allowed a 14-2 run by the Mustang offense to close it out. The result was the sixth loss of the season for MoBap, who is now 2-2 at home.
 
Missouri Baptist will close out 2021 before a long Christmas break with two games over the final six days of the semester. The Spartans will travel to Bolivar, Missouri for the final exhibition game of the season with Southwest Baptist University on Monday, Dec. 13 at 10:00 AM. That will be followed up with an afternoon matinee at home in the Carl & Deloris Petty SRC to end the week on Friday, Dec. 17 at 2:00 PM against the Toppers of Blue Mountain College.