COLUMBIA, Mo. – A year ago to the day, MBU women's basketball suffered heartbreak. The Spartans played in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) women's basketball championship semifinals and conceded defeat at the hands of Columbia College. On Saturday night in Southwell Complex, the very same gymnasium as on Feb. 25th, 2022, MoBap turned the site of heartache into one of triumph.
 
Missouri Baptist (24-4, 18-2 in AMC) had to go through the No. 3 seed in crosstown AMC foe University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy (UHSP). The Spartans had seemingly figured out the key to bottling up UHSP (21-8, 17-3 in AMC) and newly-crowned AMC player of the year Grace Beyer in the two school's previous regular season meetings. MBU showed again it was a force to be reckoned with defensively, locking down the Eutectics and sending them home by way of a 77-45 score line. It was the second-lowest scoring output of the season for UHSP and the third time that the Eutectics did not crest the 50-point mark when facing the Spartans.
 
With the win and the result on the other side of the AMC women's basketball championship bracket, the Spartans have punched a ticket with an automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament for the first time since 2006. No matter the result of Monday's championship final, MoBap will play beyond and see further into the postseason again 17 years on from its last appearance in the big dance.
 
It was a wire-to-wire win for MoBap, and from the tip the Spartans had the Eutectics in a viselike grip. MBU and UHSP traded a couple of baskets early, during which Alexis Allstun did damage down low and scored six of the Spartans first eight points. With exactly five minutes left in the first quarter, head coach Samuel Pearson brandished his off-the-bench weapon in Bryce Dowell. The junior came on the floor and scored seven points in quick fashion, giving MoBap a nine-point lead. Dowell would go onto score 17 points on 70.0 percent shooting (7-of-10).
 
It was more of the same in the second. MBU stretched its advantage to as much as 16 points before the break and limited the UHSP attack to just 17 for the half. The Spartan defense stole the ball five times, three blocked shots, and forced nine Eutectic turnovers in the first 20 minutes. MoBap then erupted for a 25-point third quarter, went on a 17-0 run between the third and fourth, and made UHSP cough up the ball another 10 times en route to the dominating 32-point victory.
 
Tionne Taylor again led the Spartans in points, scoring 20. Alexis Allstun continued her solid run of play by chipping in 15. Allstun led MoBap in rebounds with seven and stole the ball once. The Spartans efficiency showed throughout, but particularly in the season-low six turnovers that MBU gave up and the 38 points in the paint scored by the team in the grey jerseys.
 
"I'm proud of the togetherness that we have [and] our effort top to bottom," Pearson said. "To step on the court in the semifinals of a conference tournament against a well-coached team [and] the [possible] national player of the year and make everything tough [and] be the aggressor… I'm just proud of our group.
 
"We planted the roots four or five years ago, and we haven't always been in this position, so for the roots to finally blossom, it feels good. But we're not satisfied yet. We're going to remain humble [and] stay hungry [because] we came on this conference tournament trip to win a ring."
 
Other MBU performances worth mentioning came by way of Nyah Ford (7 points, 2 assists), Kelsie Williams (5 points, 6 rebounds), Joelle Atkins (4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks), Lauren Ebert (4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks), and Deyana Dodd (4 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds).
 
Missouri Baptist had sights set on a redemption matchup with Columbia College and the chance at an AMC championship when the tournament began. The Spartans will get both on Monday, Feb. 27th at 5:30 pm.