WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. – Coming off a weekend of back-to-back games and one of the biggest wins in program history, Missouri Baptist women's basketball stayed hot in a tough road matchup. MBU and Williams Baptist traded baskets, leads and momentum all evening in a shootout of a game that ended in a 83-75 win. It was the Spartans' thirteenth victory of the season, tenth of the conference campaign, and the seventh from their last eight.
 
After a rough first quarter where MBU (13-11, 10-4 AMC) looked out of sorts on offense, the Spartans turned it up in the second and beyond. After Williams Baptist (12-12, 6-7 AMC) won the first quarter 23-15, the hosts were outscored the rest of the way in the second, third, and fourth quarters. Mobap chipped away at the early hole it found itself in until the third quarter, when a Tionne Taylor 3-pointer made it 55-52 and gave MBU its first lead since the score was 7-6.
 
From that point, things stayed tight and there were four ties and four lead changes. The visitors claimed the lead for good with Jalexis Russell's layup with 45 seconds remaining in the game. The Eagles were forced to foul to try and stay in it, but Taylor put things to bed at the foul line and sunk all eight of her free throws down the stretch.
 
Russell and Taylor were the offensive breadwinners for Mobap. Taylor shot 4-of-10 from 3 and scored to lead the charge, and Russell poured in 20 while also getting 11 rebounds. It was the senior's third double-double this season and second in the last two games. Lauren Ebert knocked down three 3-pointers of her own and contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Junior center Alexis Allstun had 11.
 
The Spartans were particularly fond of finding the extra pass against the Eagles and totaled 22 assists, one shy of the season high for a game. Taylor, Russell, Ebert, junior Kamryn Mack and graduate senior Rose Wassef all had four assists to their name.
 
The win keeps Missouri Baptist at third in the conference standings and a half game ahead of its next opponent, University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy, who sit at 9-4 in the AMC. The Spartans will be looking to avenge one of their three losses from the first half of the conference season and put some distance between themselves and UHSP when they host the Eutectics on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 5:30 in the Petty SRC.