OWENSBORO, KY – Kentucky Wesleyan College women's basketball (5-3) destroyed Missouri Baptist (2-10) 112-54 on Sunday at the Sportscenter. Wesleyan has beaten their last two opponents by a margin of 90 points.
 
It was quite the start for the Panthers, as they found themselves leading 19-4 with 2:21 remaining in the opening quarter. Wesleyan went on a 14-0 run during that stretch, led by five points from Riley Neal. Carson Sisk grabbed an offensive board and put it back to give the Panthers a 23-11 lead to end the quarter.
 
"We talked about the importance of our starts because we haven't had good starts recently," Head Coach Nicole Nieman said. "[The team] talked about really wanting to make sure that we started this game well."
 
Emma Bruwer made a layup off an assist from Lena Stinebrickner just over two minutes into the quarter. Seconds later, Bruwer stole the ball from the Spartans and converted the fast-break layup to extend the lead to 13. Vilborg Jonsdottir was a huge spark in her second contest back from injury, leading a 9-2 run with four points of her own halfway through the second quarter. Myah Montgomery drilled a three as Wesleyan led by 20 points at the halftime break.

Kentucky Wesleyan dominated the third quarter, outscoring Missouri Baptist 33-15. Montgomery got the fun started, scoring five points in 12 seconds. Arielle Dabu got hot, nailing a triple and then pick-pocketing her way to a layup. After another triple from Sydnee Richetto, Dabu scored a step-back jumper apart of her 12-point quarter. This was all part of a 15-5 Panther run that took less than three minutes. 81-43 was the score entering the final frame.

It was much of the same in the fourth, as the Panther won the quarter 31-11. A 12-0 run started the quarter on a high note. Asia Sawyers scored five straight points around the four-minute mark to increase her total to 15. Stinebrickner, who had yet to record a three-point make on the season, splashed four three-pointers in the contest, including two in the fourth.

It was team effort on Sunday as Dabu (18), Sawyers (18), Jonsdottir (17), Montgomery (14), Richetto (14), and Stinebrickner (12) all finished in double-digits. Sawyers pulled down nine boards while Sisk recorded five points and six rebounds. Richetto dropped five dimes and Bruwer tallied seven points and four assists. Dabu and Jonsdottir plucked away four steals each.
 
"We've been able to have a lot of players play so they've each gotten a lot of different experiences," Coach Nieman said. "Going into conference play we're ready for all the adversity and the toughness we're going to face."
 
Wesleyan finishes up the 2024 portion of the season with a 5-3 record, winning all five games at home. They open up conference play at home against Cedarville on January 2^nd at 5:30 p.m.
 
"The biggest thing [we've learned so far] is how much of a joy this team is to be around," Coach Nieman said. "We've had a lot of new this year and they've just fit together really well. They've decided to create their own culture, their own environment, their own identity. Their identity is that they never get frustrated with themselves or each other, and we've had some frustrating days. They just continue to fight for each other."
 
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