Beyer drops 54, Allanach goes double-double and UHSP beats MoBap

COLUMBIA, MO – The first round of the 2024 American Midwest Conference Tournament Presented by Tandem HR opened up Friday afternoon with four Quarterfinal games. The 4-UHSP Eutectics had the final game of the night in what amounted to be the rubber-match of a three-game series this season against the 5-Missouri Baptist Spartans. The Eutectics will play in the AMC Semifinals for the third straight year after an 85-77 win.

UHSP got off to a tremendous start from the perimeter as their first three made field goals came from beyond the three-point line as Elizabeth Allanach, Emily Coleman and Grace Beyer all connected early in the first quarter. After an Allanach foul shot, Beyer scored the final 11 points of the quarter for the Eutectics with eight coming from the charity stripe as UHSP led 20-11 at the end of the first.

Missouri Baptist got exactly what they wanted to begin the second period. After a Beyer jumper to put the Purple and Gold on top 22-11, MoBap got hot from deep getting triples from Sophia Horton, Nyah Ford and Jalexis Russell and just 2:11 into the quarter, the Spartans had cut the margin to one at 24-23 after a 12-2 run. The Eutectic's leading three point shooter Samantha Matthews drilled a three-ball to slow the Spartan run and after an Allanach layup, Beyer went on another individual run scoring the Eutectics' final 13 points of the quarter giving her 28 at the break as UHSP led 43-34 at the half. UHSP was 15-for-17 from the foul line in the first half while Missouri Baptist had just seven attempts, making them all. MoBap had nine first half turnovers.

Early in the third, Coleman and Beyer knocked down early three-pointers as UHSP extended the lead to 15 then Beyer and Allanach hit back-to-back layups around a missed Missouri Baptist three-pointer as UHSP took a commanding 19-point lead at 55-36 with 5:55 left in the period. The Spartans twice cut the deficit to eight late in the quarter as Russell hit a layup to make it 61-53 and Aliyah Williams put one in from the paint to make it 63-55 with :53 seconds left. With :04 left, Matthews found Allanach for a layup as she was fouled on the play and Allanach converted the free throw to put UHSP ahead 66-55 after three quarters.

To begin the fourth quarter, Beyer scored six straight to keep the pressure on MBU. The lead was again 15 after a Beyer layup at 72-57 just 1:20 into the period. The Eutectics did not waver as the Spartans would cut the margin to seven with 1:27 left after a Williams three and a Horton layup, but Beyer made foul shots down the stretch and UHSP closed out the lights on Missouri Baptist.

Grace Beyer led all scorers with 54 points and eight rebounds on 14-of-23 shooting from the floor and making all but one of her 25 free throw attempts. It is the second time this season and the fourth time in her career that Beyer had gone for 50-plus in a contest. Elizabeth Allanach put together a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Sophia Horton was one of just two Spartans to post double-figures with 22 points while Kayleigh Winch added ten. Both teams shot it well from the floor with USHP connecting at 47.3% while MBU hit at 44.4%. Missouri Baptist made eight threes while the Eutectics made six, but the free throw line was a huge disparity. UHSP was 27-for-30 from the stripe while MoBap went 13-of-15. Missouri Baptist had one more rebound than the Eutectics, but also turned it over 17 times to UHSP's 11

With the win, USHP (16-13, 10-8 AMC) defeated Missouri Baptist (11-17, 9-9 AMC) for just the fourth time ever with it being the first time they ever knocked off MBU twice in the same season. UHSP will now face the tournament's overall top-seed in the Columbia Cougars who downed 8-Central Baptist in their Quarterfinal game, 90-45 earlier in the day tying a season-best with the 16 threes. The Eutectics only own one win against the Cougars in their last 20 meetings, but that win did come last season in a game where Grace Beyer went for a career-high 59 points. UHSP and Columbia will meet in the AMC Tournament Presented by Tandem HR Semifinals on Saturday night at 6:00pm. The Cougars come into the game as the two-time defending tournament champions.