Box Score

Warrensburg, Mo. – The Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team came up just short in a 77-74 loss at Central Missouri on Monday evening. With the loss, SBU drops to 7-5 (2-4 MIAA) on the season.
 
Central Missouri came out of the gate with a pair of buckets early on, but Southwest Baptist answered back with an Ashlee Pitts jumper to tie the game at 6-6. The Bearcats then used a 9-2 run to take a 15-8 lead, as Megan Rosenbohm connected on a pair of layups to help fuel the run. UCM used back-to-back baskets to cut the SBU lead to two, but a Sarah Magana layup and a Alex Botkin three pushed the SBU lead back to seven (20-13) before SBU took a 20-16 lead after the first quarter.
 
In the second quarter SBU once again pushed their lead back to seven off of an old fashioned three-point play from Rosenbohm to lead 25-18 with 8:58 left in the half. UCM continued to fight, cutting the SBU down to 1 (25-24) with 7:09 left in the half, and tied the contest (32-32) with 2:12 left in the half. SBU used a 9-2 run to close out the half, with three's from Magana and Dilonna Johnson along with a shots from Richardson and Johnson, to take a 41-34 lead into the break.
 
In the second half SBU held a small advantage for the first five minutes of the third quarter, leading 51-47 off of a Mackenzie Skupa layup, but UCM started to heat up. The Mules ended the third quarter on a 14-3 run as SBU trailed 61-54 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
The Bearcats responded right away in the fourth quarter, starting off with a 7-1 run to cut the deficit down to 1 (62-61) with 8:10 left in the game. After a UCM free throw, Morgan Lucy connected on a layup from Dilonna Johnson to tie the game at 63-63. UCM pushed their lead back to four, but a three from Ashlee Pitts brought it back to one (68-67) with 4:19 left. The Jennies again pushed their lead back up to six (74-68), but three free throws from Rosenbohm, a UCM free throw, and a Rosenbohm three put SBU down 75-74 with 36 seconds left in the contest. After a UCM turnover, the Bearcats were unable to convert, causing SBU to foul as the Bearcats would eventually fall 77-74.
 
Megan Rosenbohm led the way for SBU with 17 points off of the bench, while Dilonna Johnson had 14 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals. Mackenzie Skupa added 10 points while Sarah Magana had 9 points and 4 assists in the loss. As a team, SBU shot 43.3% from the field, 31.8% from beyond the arc, and 75.0% from the line.
 
SBU will return to action on Thursday, January 7 when they travel to Missouri Southern. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. from Joplin, Missouri.