ST. LOUIS – With the American Midwest Conference postseason picture coming into clearer focus and Missouri Baptist women's basketball hot on the heels of the league's leaders, Thursday night's game against Stephens College was more than crucial. In a back-and forth bout that saw the Stars and Spartans fight for the lead throughout, it was MBU that pulled out the victory.
 
MBU (19-4, 15-2 in AMC) suffered an off night shooting the ball and struggled to break down the Stephens (15-8, 10-7 in AMC) zone defense, but another big night from Alexis Allstun, a clutch shot from Tionne Taylor, and some gritty play down the stretch earned MBU the 61-56 win.
 
Stephens marched into the Petty SRC riding the wave of having its best season on record in program history. The Stars looked determined to get one back on MBU after the overtime loss they suffered at the beginning of January. The game was nip and tuck all of the first half, with a tie score at the end of the first quarter (13-13) and the second (28-28). The Spartans shot a paltry 34.3 percent for the half and at one point went on an eight-minute stretch without hitting a field goal.
 
The Spartans would come out of the intermission and looked more potent. After trading baskets two times with the Stars, MoBap ripped off nine-straight points to get an eight-point advantage going. The Spartans would see their lead evaporate come the fourth quarter though, and would have to stall the Stephens comeback.
 
After the Stars regained the upper hand with four minutes remaining, a handful of chances went begging before Taylor stepped up and drilled a right wing three-pointer to get the Spartans a two-point edge with 1:16 lingering in regulation. MBU then made some opportune stops on defense and converted on enough free throws, something they had struggled with all night (15-of-24), to seal it in the final minutes.
 
Allstun was the leading scorer for the second time in three games. The senior had a bountiful night in the paint, recording 18 points and seven rebounds, despite fouling out with three minutes to play. Senior Lauren Ebert, however, was the rebounding force for MBU on the night. The St. Charles, Mo., native pulled down 10 off the glass and was one point shy of a double-double with nine. Taylor added on with another double-digit point total of 12, respectively.
 
It was another relatively efficient night of ball-handling for the Spartans with only eight turnovers and 15 made field goals being assisted on. MoBap also dominated the points off turnovers battle as the home side got 22 from the 17 Stephens giveaways, while the Stars only had six in the same category.
 
"Determination [and] not seeing the finish line too soon," head coach Sam Pearson said. "I thought we did a good job of staying to the grind. [Taylor] had just hit that big shot [but] she had air-balled two before. That takes a big-time player to have the guts to still lock in and hit that one to put us up. [Stephens] are a tough outing… [Stephens coach Andre Bell] knows what he's doing."
 
Other performances worth mentioning for the Spartans were Kasey Rice (10 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals), Nyah Ford (8 points), and Deyana Dodd (2 points, 3 assists).
 
University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy looms. The first-place in the AMC Eutectics will get their second shot at Missouri Baptist and play the Spartans at home on Saturday, Feb. 11th. Tip-off is at 2:00 pm.