ST. LOUIS - Missouri Baptist University Women's Basketball team hosts Clarke University on Halloween in the Carl & Deloris Petty SRC with hopes to start the fresh season on the right foot.

The Spartans have plenty of new faces on the roster featuring a handful of transfers, but they maintained a core group of contributors from the past season in Sophia Horton, Kayleigh Winch, Marija Runic, and Aliyah Williams.

One of the new changes to the Spartans' roster comes on the coaching staff as the season opener against Clarke will be Head Coach Edgar Mendez's first contest with Missouri Baptist. Coach Mendez joins MBU coming from Simpson College in Redding, Calif. where he led the Redhawks to the NAIA National Tournament and helped them gain their first 20-win season.

Last season Clarke had a tremendous year making it to the NAIA National Tournament's second round before a tough loss against Dakota Wesleyan. The Pride finished their season with an impressive 29-3 record, but they did lose a fair amount of their key contributors from that season.

Horton played a key role on the perimeter for the Spartans last season averaging just over 12 points per game. On the inside for Missouri Baptist, Winch is coming off a season where she averaged 17 minutes per game. 

This will be an exciting season for Missouri Baptist Women's Basketball with a lot of new factors playing into their success this season. 

To watch the game, visit https://www.spartandigitalnetwork.com/, and to buy tickets for the game, visit https://mbuspartans.com/sports/2024/7/29/tickets.aspx