ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist University Women's Basketball came up just short of pulling off an upset against No. 22 Columbia College Thursday evening with the Cougars rallying in the fourth quarter to defeat the Spartans, 60-54. Nothing worked in MBU's favor down the stretch as the Spartans struggled offensively and Columbia shot 72.7% from field with 6 of its 8 made field goals coming from the paint.
 
A loss in the AMC opener drops Missouri Baptist to 4-3 overall, while the Cougars snapped a two-game skid and are now 3-2, 1-0 in the AMC. Columbia extended its winning streak in the series to 30 and improved the all-time record against the Spartans to 39-1. Despite the lopsided all-time record, MBU has narrowed the gap more recently. The past two contests between CC and MBU have been decided by six points or fewer.
 
The first quarter wasn't pretty for either team. Missouri Baptist shot an abysmal 13% from the field and scored just 7 points, but as luck would have it, Columbia wasn't able to take advantage and led by only four at the end of the first.
 
The 22^nd-ranked Cougars quietly went on a 16-4 run to push the lead to 16 before Missouri Baptist reversed the course. After scoring just 11 points in 15 minutes of action, the Spartans shifted the momentum in their favor holding the Cougars scoreless in the final 4:49 and scoring 10 unanswered points to make it 27-21 heading into the locker room. Powering MBU's 10-0 run was a Rose Wassef trey, 3 points from Alexis Allstun and a pair of buckets in the paint from Taylor Norris and Kenzie Burt.
 
Missouri Baptist kept it close in the third and made its move late in the period. The Spartans outscored Columbia in the quarter, 23-14, and took a slim three-point lead into the fourth.
 
After MBU bumped the margin to five on a Taylor Norris basket, Columbia proceeded to go on a 14-2 run that sealed the deal. The Spartans had their opportunities for late-game heroics, however, five costly turnovers in the last four minutes did them in.
 
Junior Tionne Taylor led the Spartans with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting and was joined in double figures by Taylor Norris, who finished with 14 to go along with 3 assists and 3 steals.
 
Sophomore Lauren Ebert came up one point shy of her first career double-double. The guard from St. Peters, Mo. registered a career-high 11 rebounds and finished with 9 points, 2 assists and a game-high 4 steals (also a career best).
 
As a team, Missouri Baptist was held to a season-low 54 points while shooting 37.9% from the floor, 22.7% from the beyond the arc and 45.5% from the free-throw line. Falling in line with the MBU's other two losses, Columbia shot above 40% from the field ending the game at 46.8%.
 
The Spartans have another tough task in front of them as they welcome No. 23-ranked Lyon College (1-0, 1-0 AMC) to the Petty Sports & Recreation Complex on Saturday at 1 p.m.