Missouri Baptist uses free throw line to down Eutectics

(Photo courtesy of Rodrigue Koutoglo)

ST. LOUIS, MO – The top two leading scorers for Missouri Baptist paced the visitors as Sophia Horton had 25 points and Kayleigh Winch added 23 as the Spartans held off the Eutectics 73-60. UHSP struggled to shoot finishing the game just under 30% while the Spartans went 22-for-25 from the foul line overall.

Missouri Baptist opened the game by scoring the contest's first ten points as UHSP went scoreless for better than the first five minutes. Riley Jansen extended the early lead to 14 with a jumper with 2:25 to go in the first building the lead to 17-3. It was 17-9 after the first as Arianna Buduan scored four points around a Montasia McAllister layup.

Early in the second a pair of Karsyn Morgan foul shots closed the gap to just four at 17-13 and Morgan again made it four at 20-16 with 6:17 left in the half, but it was a game where Missouri Baptist led wire-to-wire. Horton hit a triple and Mariana Cubero buried a pair from deep around a Jayden Pilkington basket as MBU spread the lead to 33-22 with 3:48 remaining. The Spartans led 36-24 at the half.

In the second half, Missouri Baptist was never able to completely bury the Eutectics and in the third USHP used the three-ball to stay within striking distance as they went 3-for-6 in the quarter from deep. A Morgan three-ball midway through the period cut the margin to 48-41. It stayed that way for the better part of three and a half minutes until Reece Halley made a bucket to get the Purple and Gold even closer at 48-43, sending it to the fourth in just a five-point game.

In the final quarter, the Eutectics went 4-for-19 from the floor and 1-for-7 from deep while the Spartans salted the game away at the line going 16-for-18 in the quarter to hold on for the win.

Morgan led the Eutectics with 24 points hitting half of her 14 field goals and going 4-of-5 from downtown and a perfect 6-for-6 at the line. Arianna Buduan had 16 points and five rebounds. Aliyah Williams had 10 points, four boards and four assists for the Spartans and Mariana Cubero had seven points and 14 rebounds. MBU won the rebound battle with a 43-34 edge but turned it over 18 times to UHSP's 15. For the game, MBU shot 37.9% including 7-for-16 from beyond the arc in the win. UHSP was 14-for-20 from the foul line.

The contest with the Spartans wraps up a three-game homestand for the Eutectics. UHSP (2-7, 2-3) now embarks on a five-game road swing beginning Saturday with another AMC contest at Williams Baptist at 3:00pm. The Eutectics do not play again at home until Thursday, January 9 when the Cottey Comets come to town.