ST. LOUIS – After relying on its offense to win on the road against Williams Baptist on Tuesday night, Missouri Baptist women's basketball looked to its defense to lock up its eighth win from the last nine games and 11th conference win of the campaign. The Spartans led wire-to-wire in a de facto battle for third in the AMC, defeating University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy 59-49.
 
MBU (14-11, 11-4 AMC) turned in a sparkling defensive effort for most of the game and did enough on offense to control the game and keep UHSP (17-9, 9-5 AMC) from ever sniffing a lead. Mobap raced out to a 10-point lead and never looked back. Junior center Alexis Allstun was leading scorer for the Spartans, getting 17 points at a monstrously efficient 7-of-10 shooting clip. Senior Tionne Taylor, who had led the home side in scoring for the previous 8 games, managed 11 despite dealing with foul trouble.
 
MBU extended its lead to 19 at a point during the third and fourth quarters. The Eutectics made a small push and cut it down to seven, but the result was never in doubt.
 
The Spartans avenged their bad loss to the Eutectics earlier in the season despite the nation's leading scorer, Pharmacy guard Grace Beyer, getting 36 points from 26 shots. The visitors supporting cast around Beyer only managed 13 points and was near nonexistent as Mobap shut them down. MBU heavily outdid the Eutectics in second chance points (18-0) and bench points (11-0). The Spartans also nabbed 11 steals and had 7 blocked shots.
 
St. Charles product Lauren Ebert was her usual do-it-all self, recording 12 points, five rebounds and assists, and a steal and a block. Not to be outdone, senior Jalexis Russell, who was fresh off two straight double-double performances, chipped in with eight points, seven rebounds, a pair of assists and steals and a block of her own.
 
The victory gives Missouri Baptist a firm grasp of third place in the conference standings over UHSP. The Spartans will wrap up a three-game with a matchup against Central Baptist College on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 1:00 in Conway, Arkansas.