Pride fall in Heart opener at Missouri Baptist
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Playing against Missouri Baptist University early in the season for the second-straight year, this time as a conference opponent, the Clarke Unviersity women's basketball team was unable to make it two-straight wins against the Spartans in a 77-66 road loss on Saturday afternoon.
CU got off to a strong start that included an 18-8 first quarter where the Pride used a 50 percent (7-14) shooting performance on offense and a rough 1-for-17 (5.9%) from MBU to get up double digits early and grow that lead to as many as 17 points heading into the halftime break.
The roles would be reversed and then some in the third quarter when the Spartans would outscore Clarke 26-6 where the visiting team would only hit one shot from the field, going 1-for-14 (7.1%) compared to an 11-for-19 (57.9%) period for Missouri Baptist that would be capped by a near half court shot made by Mariana Cubero that broke a 45-45 tie to send the game to the fourth at a three-point lead for MBU.
Missouri Baptist would separate early in the fourth, not allowing Clarke to comeback as the Spartans would lead themselves by as many as 17 points in the final quarter before finishing at the 11-point victory by the final buzzer, outscoring CU 29-21 in the final 10 minutes of play.
The game's leading scorer was MBU's Riley Janson as she produced a 27-point, 12-rebound double-double as she split those 12 rebounds with six on the defensive end and six on the offensive end, to help lead the Spartans to outscoring Clarke 14-6 on second chance points and 40-24 on points in the paint, which were the biggest scoring advantages Missouri Baptist had in the game.
For the Pride, both Josie Potts and Zoe Kennedy finished with 18 points in 38 minutes as Potts finished her second-straight game with a new career-high in scoring after producing 17 points at Morningside on Tuesday while Kennedy added nine rebounds, six assists, and two steals.
In limited action, the freshmen pair of Jessica Morgan and Abby Hollis each produced six points off the bench as Hollis was a big factor in an attempted comeback late for CU, hitting her two three pointers in the fourth quarter while Morgan scored five of her six points in the strong first half for Clarke.
Clarke women's basketball will be at home for their next Heart of America Athletic Conference game when they welcome Grand View University to the Kehl Center on Wednesday, Nov. 19 for a 5:30 p.m. CT scheduled opening tip between the Pride and Vikings.