St. Louis - Despite falling behind by a healthy margin they never quit and had a late push, but the deficit was too great for the Spartans to overcome.

In the first quarter of the contest MBU went on a 14-3 run within the first five minutes.

Up by eleven the Spartans allowed Columbia to go on a 12-0 run in the second half of the second quarter to go into the second quarter down 15-14.

The second frame was all Cougars as they outpaced MBU 27-12 prior to halftime to take a 42-26 lead into the break.

Kayleigh Winch led the Spartans on offense with nine points.

After halftime a three pointer boosted the Cougars' lead to 20 points over MBU.

The Spartans were still unable to slow down Columbia's offense as they went into the fourth quarter up by 22.

The first portion of the final frame went back and forth for a while, but with about three minutes left the Spartans begane to turn up their pace on both ends of the court.

Despite being down big the Spartans went on a 10-0 run in the final minute, but it was too late and the Cougars held on to win 77-68.

Sophia Horton had a huge second half for the Spartans as she finished with 28 points throughout the game as she knocked down a trio of threes.

Amar Mansour also led the team in rebounds pulling down eight along with 14 points.

The Spartans will continue their AMC schedule on Saturday when they travel to Nevada, Mo. to take on Cottey College at 1:00 pm.