(St. Louis, Mo. – Jan. 10) – The McKendree University women's basketball team played even with Missouri Baptist in the second half Saturday, but a slow start and an eight point deficit at halftime was the difference in a 73-65 American Midwest Conference loss.

McKendree falls to 8-6 overall (0-2 AMC) and Missouri Baptist improved to 9-4 (2-0 AMC). McKendree travels to St. Louis, Mo., Thursday for an AMC contest with Harris-Stowe State University at 5:30 p.m.

Senior forward Emily Best (Wood River, Ill./East Alton-Wood River) (Wood River, Ill./East Alton-Wood River) and junior guard Haley Klingelhoefer (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) both scored 15 points to lead McKendree in scoring. Senior guard Kelsey Park (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) and sophomore guard Ashley Agee (Moberly, Mo./Moberly) (Moberly, Mo./Moberly) both scored 12 points, while Park also had seven steals. Freshman forward Ashley Dressler (Columbia, Mo./Rockbridge) (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge) also pulled down a career high 11 rebounds in the loss. Alexis Rhoades led the Spartans with 23 points in the win.

The Bearcats started sluggish and trailed 30-15 in the first half, but rallied to cut the deficit to 41-33 at halftime. The Bearcats battled back and played the Spartans even in the second half, but the first half proved too much to overcome in the loss. The Spartans shot 41.1 percent from beyond the arc compared to McKendree's 16.7 percent.

-McK-