ST. LOUIS - Missouri Baptist took control of the lead against Crowley's Ridge early on in the AMC clash, and the Spartans ran away to secure a season series win over the Pioneers, 71-47.
The Spartans conceded the first bucket of the night to the Pioneers, but went on a 9-0 run right after to grab the lead early. Missouri Baptist did not look back and went on to win the quarter 19-8.
Jenna Plymale gave the Spartans a huge lift off the bench with four points, three rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block in her five minutes in the first quarter. Riley Jansen started her high scoring night with six points and three rebounds.
Missouri Baptist dominated the inside in the opening 10 minutes with 14 points in the paint.
Halfway through the second quarter the Spartans stretched their lead out to 18 points with the score at 28-10.
The end of the half was electric, Aliyah Williams pulled down an offensive board to give the Spartans an extra possession that turned into a Mariana Cubero triple, and at the buzzer the Pioneers knocked down a volleyball line three to match Cubero's, bringing the score to 33-21.
At the break Cubero was halfway to a double-double with eight points and six rebounds.
Crowley's Ridge was able to stick with the Spartans in the third quarter, and they had trimmed the MBU lead to just six points, but a triple from Williams, a pair of free throws from Orian Anderson, and a jumper by Sophia Horton stretched the lead back to double digits.
Missouri Baptist continued their tremendous defense in the fourth quarter and held the Pioneers to just 11 points. Their offense also found their best quarter of the night with 22 points, leading to a 71-47 victory.
The Spartans took the lead just under four minutes into the contest and held it for the rest of the night.
Mariana Cubero finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for another Spartan double-double. Horton fell just short of a double-double with nine points, nine rebounds, and five assists.
Missouri Baptist's bench outscored the Pioneers' by 17 points, and the Spartans posted 10 more second chance points. MBU shot 47.4 percent from beyond the arc, going 9-19.
The Spartans went 2-0 against Crowley's Ridge this season and improve their conference record to 8-11 with three games left in the regular season.
Spartan Stat Leaders
Points: Cubero (16)
Rebounds: Cubero (10)
Assists: Horton (5)
Records
Missouri Baptist: 8-17 (8-11 AMC)
Crowley's Ridge: 9-16 (3-16 AMC)
Next Game
On Saturday, Feb. 15 the Spartans will return to the court for Senior Day at 2:00 p.m. against Williams Baptist.
