ST. LOUIS — In their first game of the 2025 half of the season, the (RV) Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions finished their non-conference slate with perfection after defeating the Missouri Baptist University Spartans 60-49.
It was a slow start for FHU (16-0) with the Spartans scoring the first seven points of the game before
Kaylee Odom and
Brooklyn Crouch connected for back-to-back layups. The Lady Lions began to creep back into the game when
Carissa Curtis's 3-pointer opened a seven-point run that ended with FHU leading 14-13 at the end of the first quarter.
Missouri Baptist (2-10) hoped to repeat their first quarter success after reclaiming the lead with a 3-pointer; but,
Jenna Satterly pushed the Lady Lions to score 10 unanswered points with the freshman tallying six of those points. Odom's layup at 4:24 made the Lady Lion lead grow to eight points before
Kelsey Bender's layup ended the first half with FHU leading 35-20.
Odom began the second half with a layup, but the FHU shooters went cold, missing their next eight attempts from the floor before Crouch tallied a layup at 5:06. Thankfully for the Lady Lions, the Spartans had similar troubles, going 5-13 from the field in the third quarter. Bender turned a steal into a three-point play before Crouch sank a set a free throws to end the third frame leading 43-35.
With the Lady Lions being unsuccessful from long range, they adjusted well to score eight points inside the paint in the fourth quarter while going 9-10 from the free-throw line to ice the game with a 60-49 victory.
Neither team got hot from beyond the arc, with FHU going 1-10 while MBU went 3-24. The Lady Lions forced 12 Spartan turnovers, converting those to eight points off of turnovers. While the rebounding battle was drawn 38-38, the biggest differential was in the bench point category with FHU's bench out-scoring MBU's 21-4.
Kaylee Odom earned FHU's first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while
Jenna Satterly led the offense with 19 points.
Brooklyn Crouch tallied 12 points while
Kelsey Bender added 11.
Alaina Stiles led the team with two assists.
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Up Next
Freed-Hardeman finished their non-conference schedule with a perfect 16-0 record. The last time FHU was perfect outside of the conference was the 2018-19 season when they finished the regular season's non-conference slate at 6-0.
They now get set for an intense Mid-South Conference schedule where five of seven teams are either ranked or receiving votes. FHU begins the gauntlet by hosting No. 16 Bethel on January 11 at 1:00 p.m.
