Lexi Miller Leads Cougars to Win at Missouri Baptist

St. Louis, Mo. – Lexi Miller tied a career-high with 17 points and added a career-best nine rebounds off the bench to lead the Columbia College women’s basketball team to a 77-68 win at Missouri Baptist University Thursday at the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex in St. Louis.
 
Miller was 6-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-6 from-three point range, and scored 10 points in the second quarter where the Cougars outscored the Spartans 27-12.
 
Columbia won its fourth-straight game to improve to 13-3 (5-1 AMC), while Missouri Baptist fell to 3-10 (1-3 AMC). With the win, the Cougars moved into a tie for first place in the AMC standings with Stephens.
 
Mallory Shetley added 18 points on 8-of-11 free throws, while Abby Backes (15) and DeLaney Horstman (12) also scored in double figures. The Cougars hit 8-of-19 from three-point range and forced 18 turnovers in the win.
 
Missouri Baptist built an early 14-3 lead in the opening 4:27 of the game as the Cougars were just 1-of-5 from the field with four turnovers. The Cougars locked down on defense the rest of the quarter scoring the final 12 points to take a 15-14 lead.
 
Shetley (7) and Backes (6) combined to score 13 of 15 points in the quarter for the Cougars as they limited Missouri Baptist to 33.3 percent shooting (6-18).
 
Backes drained a three to ignite a 13-2 run to extend the Cougars lead to 32-22 with 3:20 left before half. Lexi Miller scored eight-straight points on back-to-back threes and a layup, and then Sydney Reddin scored with 14 seconds left on a reverse lay-up to make it 42-26 at half. Columbia hit 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) from the field in the quarter.
 
Lexi Miller scored all of her 10 first-half points in the second quarter, while Backes and Shetley added nine points each. The Cougars hit 5-of-10 from three-point range.
 
Backes’ three pushed the lead to 47-27, and then back-to-back threes from Lexi Miller made it 55-36 with 3:07 left in the third. Columbia scored six of the final seven points of the quarter to take a 61-39 lead. Lexi Miller (7) and Backes (6) combined to score 13 of the 19 points for the Cougars.
 
Missouri Baptist went on a 7-0 run midway through the fourth to trim the lead to 68-54, but Shetley connected on an old-fashioned three-point play to seal the victory.
 
Sophia Horton led Missouri Baptist with 28 points, while Amar Mansour (14) and Kayleigh Winch (11) also scored in double figures for the Spartans.
 
The Cougars host University of Health & Sciences on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 1 p.m.
 
NOTES: Columbia has won five-straight meetings against Missouri Baptist and leads the all-time series 45-2 … The Cougars’ bench outscored the Spartans 28-9 … Horstman added a career-best five assists.