By: Jeff Weseloh, Director of Athletics Media Relations
Box Score Joplin, Mo. – The Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team fell at Missouri Southern on Thursday evening 74-61. With the loss, SBU drops to 7-6 (2-5 MIAA).
Southwest Baptist opened the contest with three straight buckets from
Caylee Richardson to take an early 6-1 lead over Missouri Southern with 7:17 left in the first quarter. MSSU responded with a 13-0 run, taking a 14-6 lead, before a layup from
Morgan Henderson and a free throw from
Mackenzie Skupa cut the deficit to five (14-9) at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter MSSU opened up with layup, but a three from
Ashlee Pitts pulled SBU within four (16-12) with 9:31 left in the second quarter. MSSU responded with 10-0 run to push their lead to double-digits, before SBU went on a 10-0 run of their own. Pitts hit another three, and shots from
Aliyah Isaac and
Morgan Lucy fueled the 10-0 run which put SBU down four (26-22) with 4:19 left in the half. A
Sarah Magana layup with 2:08 in the half put the deficit back to four (28-24). However, MSSU ended the half on a 9-0 run as SBU went into the break trailing 37-24.
MSSU quickly came out of the half and extended their lead to 17, and pushed it to a game high 19 (53-34) with 2:35 left in the third quarter. Layups from
Alex Botkin and Skupa, coupled with a Lucy jumper, cut the deficit to 13 (53-40) at the end of the third quarter.
SBU opened up the fourth quarter extending their run to 10-0, using layups from Richardson and Botkin, as the Bearcats continued to fight. However, Missouri Southern promptly pushed their lead back to double-figures as the Bearcats would eventually fall 74-61.
Caylee Richardson had a outstanding game for the Bearcats, scoring a career high 23 points on 10 of 11 shooting from the field.
Sarah Magana also produced a career high 10 assists in the loss. As a team, SBU shot 43.4% from the field, 21.4% from beyond the arc, and 50.0% from the free throw line.
The Bearcats will return to action on Saturday, January 9 when they travel to Pittsburg State. Play is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. from Pittsburg, Kansas.
