Springfield, Mo. – Behind a career-best 24 points from Mya Miller, the Columbia College women's basketball team earned a hard-fought 82-74 win at Evangel University on Tuesday in a battle of teams receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 at AGFinancial Arena.
 
Lexi Miller (20 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists), Ashtyn Klusmeyer (18 points) and Lexi Rubel (12 points, 16 rebounds) also scored in double figures for Columbia, who dominated the glass (47-26) and second-chance points (20-3).
 
Columbia improved to 2-0 with the win, while Evangel suffered its first loss of the season and fell to 1-1.
 
Columbia used its height advantage early, scoring all 16 of its first-quarter points in the paint to take a 16-13 lead after 10 minutes. Mya Miller paced the Cougars with eight points, while the defense held Evangel to 31.6 percent shooting (6-for-19) in the period.
 
Lexi Rubel banked in a jumper to cap a 7-0 run, giving the Cougars a 26-17 advantage with 7:28 remaining in the half. The lead reached double digits at 34-23 after Lexi Miller knocked down a wing three-pointer — the Cougars' first of the game.
 
Mya Miller was nearly perfect from the field, scoring 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting as Columbia took a 41-27 lead into half. She sparked the offense with two three-point plays in the second quarter. Lexi Miller added 10 points and six rebounds, and Lexi Rubel contributed 10 points and eight boards as the Cougars shot 48.5 percent (16-33) in the first half.
 
Evangel opened the third quarter on a 7-2 run to trim the deficit to 43-34, as Columbia started the half just 1-of-10 from the field. Klusmeyer closed the period strong, scoring the Cougars' final three baskets to extend the lead to 53-45 heading into the fourth.
 
Lexi Miller's wing three put the Cougars ahead 66-53 with 6:03 remaining. Evangel responded with seven straight points from Ali Kamies to cut the deficit to five (68-63) with under three minutes to play, but Lexi Rubel's putback pushed the margin back to seven. Klusmeyer's three-pointer with 52 seconds left sealed the win for the Cougars.
 
Kamies (24 points) and Carson Dillard (13 points) scored in double figures for Evangel, who hit just 6-of-24 (25.0 percent) from three-point range in the loss.
 
Columbia has a day off before returning to action at Central Methodist University on Thursday, November 6 at 5:30 p.m.
 
NOTES: Columbia leads the all-time series 5-1 ... Head coach Matt Moore secured his 30th career win ... The Cougars are 2-0 for the fourth-straight year ... Columbia only had six players score in the win ... The double-double for Lexi Rubel was the fourth of her career.