ST. LOUIS – Following a first half of misery on the offensive side for Missouri Baptist Women's Basketball, the chance to build off back-to-back wins looked to be in serious jeopardy. The Spartans (9-10, 6-3 AMC) trailed by 22 points to William Woods (5-14, 2-7 AMC) at the break, 36 to 14, but came out of the locker room and stormed back to pull off an incredible comeback win and set Mobap firmly into third place in the AMC standings.
It was as much a tale of two halves as any game could be for MBU. The home side managed just five field goals over the course of the first 20 minutes, leaving them in a deep hole. The Owls, by contrast, were firing on all cylinders and shot just over 60 percent (14-of-23) to build their large advantage. They were led by Sydney Booker's 13 points and nine rebounds. The visitors closed the half on a 27-6 run that put them in the driver's seat going to the intermission.
Whatever team talk Spartan head coach Sam Pearson gave his squad in the locker room seemed to work instantly. Facing easily its largest halftime deficit of the entire season, Mobap came out of the third quarter gates firing and without any sign of fear. After two quick three-pointers from graduate senior
Rose Wassef and senior
Tionne Taylor in the first minute forced an Owl timeout, the offense that struggled to even score 14 points in the first and second quarters had been sparked. The Spartans went on to score 49 points in the second half and limited WWU to just 15, resulting in a double-digit victory.
Taylor continued her offensive onslaught of being top scorer for MBU to a fourth consecutive game, scoring 27 on 7-of-15 with four treys. Wassef hit on two of her three-point jumpers and chipped in with 13 points of her own. Sophomore
Kayleigh Winch managed to lead the home side in rebounds with in just 17 minutes while coming off the bench. Three more three-pointers and 13 points from junior
Lauren Ebert, 11 of which came after half, certainly helped as well.
After nine of the 18 scheduled conference games for Missouri Baptist have been tallied, the Spartans sit at 6-3 in league play behind AMC leaders Columbia College (9-0) and second-place Lyon College (8-1). All three of Mobap's conference defeats to Columbia, Lyon and University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy (5-4) occurred on the road, meaning the chance at revenge in the latter half of the conference slate will run through the Petty Sports & Recreation Complex.
MBU will next take a trip to Hannibal, Mo. on Thursday, Jan. 27th to face the Trojans of Hannibal-LaGrange at 5:30 PM, whom the Spartans boat-raced in their first conference matchup 77-44 when they hosted HLGU.
