Columbia, Mo. – Abby Backes scored 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting and became the 20th member of the 1,000-point club as the Columbia College women's basketball team posted a 103-33 victory over Blackburn College Thursday afternoon in front of a packed house during School Day in Southwell.
 
Backes drained a three-pointer from the wing with 6:40 left in the second quarter to eclipse the 1,000 career points. She has scored 1,002 points in 125 games in her five seasons.
 
Columbia improved to 12-0 win the victory, while Blackburn lost its sixth-straight contest and fell to 1-9. The Cougars are off to a 12-0 start for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
 
Lexi Miller led the Cougars with 19 points, while Ashtyn Klusmeyer had a career-high 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Emma Daniels (12 points), Mallory Shetley (11 points, five assists) and Mara Jensen (10 points) also scored in double figures for Columbia, who shot 45.7 percent (43-94) from the field and hit a season-high 13 threes.
 
Columbia jumped out to a 24-2 lead after one quarter behind seven points by Lexi Miller and five each from Backes and Shetley. The Cougars scored the final 20 points of the quarter.
 
A 17-0 run by Columbia midway through the second quarter pushed the advantage to 43-4 with 4:41 left before half.
 
Lexi Miller had 12 points and Backes added 11 as Columbia led 53-6 at half. The Cougars limited Blackburn to 18.8 percent shooting (3-16) and forced 21 turnovers.
 
Daniels hit a three-pointer with 2:12 left in the fourth quarter as the Cougars eclipsed 100 points for the first time since February 18, 2023.
 
Kennadee Frey had 15 points to lead Blackburn, who committed 26 turnovers in the loss.
 
Columbia has 18 days off before hosting University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy on Tuesday, January 7 at 5:30 p.m.
 
NOTES: This was the first meeting between the two teams ... Columbia extended its home winning streak to 37 games dating back to 2022 – a span of 765 days ... The Cougars outrebounded the Beavers 62-25.