ST. LOUIS – It wasn't always pretty, but the Missouri Baptist women's basketball overcame a sluggish start on Monday to handily defeat Hannibal-LaGrange University, 71-48. One of the main storylines of the evening was the contributions from MBU's seven players off the bench. That group made up nearly 75% percent of the team's scoring against the Trojans with 53 total bench points.
 
Pacing the Spartans offensively were key reserves Kim Shaw, Sara Hermosa, Grace Burrows and Rose Wassef, who combined for 42 points while shooting 18-of-30 (.600) from the field.
 
Coming off of a 16-day hiatus, MoBap picked up its fourth consecutive win in conference and moved 8-4, 4-2 AMC. Still in search of their first road win this season, the Trojans dropped to 1-13, 0-8 AMC.
 
After falling behind 11-2 to begin the game, the Spartans eventually shook the rust off by the end of the first quarter and outscored HLGU 11-5 in the final 2 and ½ minutes. Leading the charge for MBU was forward Kim Shaw. The Wellington, New Zealand senior was 4-of-5 from the floor and scored 9 of the Spartans' 13 points in the opening period.
 
Down 16-13, the Spartans turned up the heat defensively and held Hannibal to nine points and a 20% shooting clip in the second quarter – both game lows. The shooting struggles weren't exclusive to just the Trojans, though. Missouri Baptist went 0-for-9 from 3-point range in the second, but luckily made up for it in the paint where 12 of its 19 points came from.
 
The Spartans grabbed their first lead of the game 16 minutes in (22-21) and went into the locker room up 32-25.
 
MBU led the rest of the way and continued to put more distance between the two squads after halftime. Head coach Samuel Pearson and his Spartans won the third quarter, 20-10, and closed out the game with a 19-13 advantage in the fourth.
 
Kim Shaw doubled her previous season high in scoring by leading all players with 16 points (7-of-12). She also added 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals to her final ledger. Joining Shaw in double figures was Sara Hermosa, who also had an efficient day with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
 
Last week's female Spartan Athlete of the Week, Grace Burrows, made the most of her playing time, notching 9 points (3-of-6) and 2 rebounds in 15 minutes of action. All but one Spartan scored on Monday, while all 12 picked up at least one rebound. As a team, the Spartans out-rebounded the visitors, 50-36.
 
Other stat leaders for the Spartans included Lauren Ebert with 8 rebounds, Rose Wassef with 3 assists, Vinnié Winters with 3 blocks and Kamryn Mack with 3 steals.
 
MBU will have an extremely quick turnaround due to this evening's rescheduled game. The Spartans remain at home Tuesday (Feb. 2) to take on Harris-Stowe State (4-6, 4-3 AMC).