COLUMBIA, Mo. – MBU women's basketball has now entered the second season with all to play for. The Spartans took that mentality and their American Midwest Conference (AMC) women's basketball championship quarterfinal game by the scruff defensively. MBU defeated William Woods University (WWU) for a third time this season, 66-55, and advance to the tournament semifinals.
 
MoBap (23-4, 18-2 in AMC) was no stranger to a tough game against WWU (8-21, 6-14 in AMC) during the regular season. The Spartans played to a defensive nine-point victory against the Owls in the first conference game of the season for both schools. It looked like much of the same in the early going on Friday afternoon.
 
MBU struggled to make shots in the first half, shooting just 25.0 percent from the field in the first quarter, and fell behind 25-14 at one point in the second. It wasn't until seldom-scoring Nyah Ford found a groove, scoring on back-to-back trips down the floor, then stealing the ball and assisting on a fast break layup for Lauren Ebert. MBU got within three points at the half and ignited its offense in the second.
 
Ford again got things going, scoring in a three-minute span six more of her 15 points from the bench. MoBap turned around the three-point deficit and regained the lead with eight and a half minutes remaining. The Spartans would not trail again.
 
The Owls kept things interesting and would not go quietly. MBU kept WWU just out of reach, however, leading by no less than five over the final period of action. The MoBap defense relished playing with the lead, forcing William Woods into all sorts of mistakes, with the Owls turning it over 13 times in the second half. MBU stole the ball 20 times over the course of the contest, with six different Spartans recording at least three steals each.
 
Recently anointed first team all-conference selection Tionne Taylor returned to form as the guiding hand for the offense, scoring 21 points and leading the charge on defense with four steals.
 
The turnover disparity of 23 from WWU compared to just 11 from MBU, along with the points scored off of them (19-to-4 points off turnovers margin favoring the Spartans) could be considered the difference makers. Ford's 15 from the bench highlighted a 29-to-5 discrepancy in bench scoring that MoBap was also on the winning end of.

Other statlines of note for MBU came from Lauren Ebert (9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals), Kelsie Williams (4 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks), Bryce Dowell (4 points, 3 steals), Joelle Atkins (6 points, 6 rebounds), Deyana Dodd (3 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals), and Alexis Allstun (3 points, 3 steals, 7 rebounds).
 
MBU will now face off with AMC player of the year Grace Beyer and No. 3 seed University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy on Saturday, Feb. 25th at 3:30 pm at the Southwell Complex in Columbia, Mo. The Spartans completed a series sweep of the Eutectics back on Feb. 11th and must win again if it has hopes of continuing its season past the conclusion of the AMC championship.