ST. LOUIS – It took nearly 20 minutes for No. 8-ranked Missouri Baptist Women's Lacrosse to get going, but once it did, (RV) Marian University (Ind.) could do little to keep MBU in check. The Spartans erased a 5-0 deficit and went on a scoring spree in the second half to defeat the visiting Knights, 16-7.
 
Fresh off an upset win over No. 1 Benedictine (Kan.), MoBap improved to 2-1 on the season while dealing the Knights (3-1) their first loss of 2023.
 
MBU came out relatively flat in the opening period and struggled to find the back of the cage. With multiple chances, the Spartans were held scoreless for 19 minutes on six shots (5 SOG) and, at one point, were 0-for-4 in free-position attempts.
 
On the flip side, Marian came out guns blazing, looking to pull off an upset of its own. Not having played in MU's first three games, Ashlynn Gray had quite the season debut with a hat trick in the first 10 minutes. Gray scored 24 seconds into the game and added goals 2 & 3 off free position shots at the 8:16 and 5:12 mark of the first period.
 
The Knights extended their lead to 5-0 early in the second with back-to-back goals within 30 seconds of one another.
 
NAIA and KCAC Offensive Player of the Week Chayleb Deves ended the Knights' run, scoring MBU's first goal at 10:33 in the second quarter. Mark that down as the turning point. Deves' goal sparked three more for the Spartans before the end of the half, including a pair of goals from Caroline Karr and one from Kamryn Bell. Karr's second goal came with just 58 seconds remaining on the clock to narrow the margin to 6-4.
 
Including Karr's goal at the end of the first half, MBU scored eight unanswered on Knights' goalie Katherine Hirsch. The Spartans evened the game at 6-all at the 6:14 mark, and Kamryn Bell notched the go-ahead goal just 57 seconds later.
 
Not only were the goals pouring in in the second half, but the Spartan defenders continued to terrorize Marian. Midfielder Jordan Haeusser set a new single-game high with 11 caused turnovers and was one of several Spartans who helped flip the script in the final 30 minutes. Marian was shut out in the third quarter and managed just one goal to MBU's 12 in the second half.
 
Other milestones achieved on Tuesday included Chayleb Deves' 100^th career goal and freshman Skyler Morrisey's first goal in a Spartan uniform.
 
Four Spartans recorded hat tricks on the afternoon: Caroline Karr, Chayleb Deves, Kamryn Bell, and Lydia Cornett, while the latter three also recorded two assists apiece.
 
Getting the win between the pipes was grad transfer Alyssa Graebner, who came in after halftime and logged four saves.
 
The Spartans' schedule doesn't get any easier in the weeks ahead as they host No. 10 Indiana Tech on Saturday at 6 p.m., followed by Spring Break games in Georgia at NCAA DII Shorter University (2-4) and No. 7-ranked Life University (4-0).