COLUMBIA, MO. - On the road in an AMC matchup the Spartans fell behind early and trailed by 17 in the first half, but the Spartans surged back cutting their deficit to just four halfway through the fourth quarter before the Stars pushed back and held on to win 72-59.

The Spartans did not have much offense going for them in the first quarter as they trailed by nine with just under five minutes left in the frame. Turnovers hurt the Spartans throughout the contest as they had nine in the first quarter, but they only trailed 16-12 heading into the second.

Stephens came out firing to start the second quarter, going on an 8-0 run to make it 24-12. The Stars continued to have a successful first half as they extended their lead to 14 before halftime with the score at 38-24.

Missouri Baptist came out of the locker room on a mission as they opened the second half on a 15-3 run, featuring a pair of threes from Mariana Cubero and Sophia Horton, which put them down by just two. Stephens held a six point lead going into the final frame.

The Stars extended their once two point lead into a 10 point lead with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the Spartans got it back to four points in a minute and a half with the help of a pair of triples from Cubero and Aliyah Williams.

Stephens fended off the late Spartans push as they got multiple stops on defense and put the ball through the hoop to go on to win 72-59.

The Spartans had a good day shooting the ball as they went 50 percent from the field and just under 40 percent from beyond the arc. Kayleigh Winch had another great performance with 17 points as she went 8-11 from the field.

Spartan Stat Leaders

Points: Winch (17)

Rebounds: Cubero (7)

Assists: Marija Runic & Williams (3)

Blocks: Winch (3)

Steaks: Horton (2)

Records

Missouri Baptist: 2-8 (2-4 AMC)

Stephens: 5-5 (3-3 AMC)

Next Game

The Spartans return home for a contest on Thursday, Dec. 19 when they take on Oakland City University at 2:00 PM.