ST. LOUIS – The period between Christmas and New Year's can often feel like a time warp, and Missouri Baptist women's basketball senior Tionne Taylor brought back shades of the mid-2000's with her performance on Thursday night.
 
Missouri Baptist (8-3, 4-1 in AMC) ran away with an 83-56 victory against Judson University (3-11) amid one of the final evenings of 2022. MoBap, decked out in brand new gray and blue uniforms adorned with the Spartan logo, ended the non-conference slate of its season with the bullish win to improve to 4-2 outside the American Midwest Conference (AMC).
 
Taylor came into the matchup with the Eagles needing 20 points to secure the program's all-time scoring record in a career. The tally to beat was held by Angela Cerrito, whose number of 1,395 points had stood since Cerrito's illustrious career in navy and white ended at the conclusion of the 2006-07 season.
 
Taylor, a four-year starter and native of O'Fallon, Missouri, slowly chipped away at the mark needed over the course of the night. The senior scored four points in the first quarter, five in the second, and six in the third to need just six more to grab the undisputed MBU career points lead. Taylor hit 21 in fashion by burying a spot up 3-point shot from the left wing as she was fouled. The Francis Howell high school product was mobbed by her teammates and enjoyed cheers and a standing ovation from the Petty SRC crowd after head coach Sam Pearson called a timeout following the historic bucket.
 
Taylor would finish with 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting, with two assists and two steals to boot. Substitution Bryce Dowell recorded 15 points with four 3-pointers, and senior Alexis Allstun managed 14 points to follow closely behind in the double-digit scoring club.
 
MBU is off to its best start from 11 games since 2005-06, when the Spartans got wins from 11 of the first 12 that season.
 
MBU was downright dominant in the paint, outscoring the Eagles 44-18 from scoring in the lane and outrebounded Judson 44-36. Senior Lauren Ebert led the charge in crashing the glass, with six total rebounds. Four other Spartan players tied for second place in the board tally with five.
 
After surrendering a couple of treys to the visitors to fall behind early, MoBap grabbed the lead with a Dowell jumper and didn't look back. The Spartans went by way of Taylor and had a steady diet of scoring off the pine (34 bench points) to secure the victory.
 
"Tionne Taylor is special," Pearson said. "I don't want to get emotional, but she's done a lot for us. She's put in a lot of work over the years… and I coach her the toughest because I know she's one of the toughest we got. She's a special individual and she's a heck of a ball player."
 
Other notable performances for MBU came by way of Kelsie Williams (9 points, 5 rebounds), Kayleigh Winch (3 points, 5 rebounds), Deyana Dodd (5 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals), and Joelle Atkins (5 rebounds).
 
Missouri Baptist must again turn attention to the AMC for a huge week following the switch to the new year. The Spartans will first travel to Columbia, Mo., to face Stephens College on Thursday, Jan. 5th at 5:30 pm before hosting a weekend clash with University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy on Saturday, Jan. 7th at 1:00 pm. Both schools sit tied with or ahead of the Spartans in the AMC standings on 4-1 and 6-0 records in league play, respectively.