ST. LOUIS – A little over 24 hours after the Missouri Baptist women's basketball team fell in a heartbreaker to Lyon College, the Spartans bounced back in a big way. MBU played like the team to beat all game, despite having played on back-to-back days, in its 61-50 defeat of rival Columbia in front of a packed house crowd at the Carl & Deloris Petty SRC. It was just the Spartans' second ever victory against the Cougars.
 
Missouri Baptist (12-11, 9-4 AMC) immediately leapt out to a lead thanks to two Tionne Taylor 3-pointers in the first minute. The senior provided 25 points, leading all scorers yet again. Columbia (17-6, 10-2 AMC) looked sluggish in the first quarter, only scoring six points to Mobap's 15. The Second quarter was less in the Spartans favor, as the Cougars climbed to within three at halftime behind a 14-5 run.
 
The home side came into the game with a noticeable hunger that was visible in how they chased down rebounds and loose balls. The Spartans, who came into the contest averaging almost six rebounds per game less than the Cougars, outrebounded the visitors 39-24 and had the edge in steals 8-7.
 
The third quarter was a mercurial affair. Columbia managed to claw their way to a lead briefly at 32-31 in the third, but MBU was quick to take it back and put it to a five-point lead heading to the fourth. Leading Columbia scorer Mallory Shetley scored 11 of her 23 points in the third frame. MBU forward Jalexis Russell recorded six of her 10 points in the third. Russell also collected 10 rebounds, to lead the Spartans off the glass and secure her second double-double of the season.
 
Missouri Baptist kept the Cougars at bay and never surrendered the lead in the last 10 minutes. The Spartans slowly built a lead over the final minutes that resulted in Columbia needing to foul down the stretch. MBU capitalized, going 15-for-19 (.789) on freebies. Forward Alexis Allstun made both her attempts, point guard Rose Wassef was 4-of-6, and Taylor did heavy damage at the line, scoring on 9-of-11 free throws to seal the deal for MBU.
 
The win brings Mobap that much closer to securing a top-4 finish and a hosting seed in the end of season conference tournament, but it will not come easy. The Spartans now sit in third and are 1.5 games behind the second-place Cougars in the AMC standings. Next week brings a three game slate for Missouri Baptist, with the first game being a Tuesday road trip to Walnut Ridge to face Williams Baptist at 5:30 PM on February 8th.