Women’s Basketball Advances to AMC Finals

Columbia, Mo. – The Columbia College women’s basketball team earned a spot in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Women’s Basketball Tournament title game after defeating the No. 3-seeded Missouri Baptist Spartans, 77-63, in front of the home crowd on Friday night. 
 
The Cougars have earned an automatic bid to the NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship Opening Round with the win.  
 
The Cougars (25-6) jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Missouri Baptist (18-12) called a timeout and responded with a 5-1 run to climb within four points, 11-7. The Cougar lead reached double figures after a jump shot from Mallory Shetley, 23-13. Columbia held a 25-16 advantage at the end of one quarter. 
 
In the second period, Columbia’s lead reached as many as 16 on a Mackenzie Dubbert layup with 6:08 left in the first half. The Spartans trimmed the Cougar lead to 11, but back-to-back jumpers from Kamryn Mennemeyer extended the lead back to 15 (39-24). The Spartans scored a two-pointer with 46-seconds left but still trailed by 13 (39-26) at the intermission. 
 
The Spartans came out strong in the third period and got within nine points (45-36), but a key three-point field goal from Abby Backes gave the team a 48-36 advantage midway through the quarter. The Cougars would hang on to a double-digit lead the rest of the period and took a comfortable 19-point advantage (61-42) into the last 10 minutes. 
 
A quick 4-0 spurt in the fourth quarter gave Columbia their largest lead of the game at 20 points (68-48). The Spartans trimmed the lead down to 12 with 5:03 left, but that was as close as they would get, as Columbia went on to win and secure a berth into the AMC title game. 
 
Head Coach Taylor Possail finished his home coaching career by picking up his 100th-career win against AMC opponents. Possail and his teams were 72-7 in Southwell during his five-year career. 
 

 
Key Moment:
After the Spartans had the momentum and closed the gap to nine points in the third quarter, Abby Backes drained a key three-point field goal to stop the run and extend the Cougar lead back to double-digits. 
 
By the Numbers:
9/3 – Columbia drained nine three-point field goals, compared to just three made for the Spartans. 
100 – Head Coach Taylor Possail now has 100-career wins against AMC opponents. 
16-10 – Clare Shetley picked up a double-double with 16 points and ten rebounds. 
17 – Columbia dished out 17 assists on 29 made baskets. 
 
Columbia Leaders:
Scoring Leader – Mallory Shetley (19)
Rebounding Leader – Clare Shetley (10)
Assist Leader –Mallory Shetley / Abby Backes (5)
Steals Leader – Mallory Shetley (2)
 
Missouri Baptist Leaders:
Scoring Leader – Tionne Taylor (20)
Rebounding Leader – Lauren Ebert (8)
Assist Leader –Jalexis Russell (3)
Steals Leader – Jalexis Russell / Kamryn Mack (2)
 
Up Next:
The Cougars will head to Batesville, Ark. on Monday, Feb. 28, to face top-seeded Lyon (Ark.) in the championship game of the AMC tournament. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.