Box Score Fulton, Mo. - The Lady Cougar basketball team earned an impressive 76-61 road victory at 19^th-ranked William Woods University on Thursday night in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) opener for both teams. Columbia, ranked 13^th in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 Poll, improves to 3-3 overall and 1-0 in league play with the win, while the Owls drop to 5-2 and 0-1 in the AMC.

The two squads were tied at 10-10 early in the first half after a back and forth start to the contest. The Lady Cougars were able to gain separation with a 10-0 run over the next five minutes, capped off by an Aqua Corpening three-pointer at the 10:37 mark. Columbia would hold the lead over the remainder of the half and take a 39-30 advantage into the halftime break after shooting 40 percent (14 of 35) from the field and forcing 16 William Woods turnovers in the opening period. Corpening knocked down 5 of 8 attempts from three-point range on her way to 15 first half points.

Heather English picked up seven quick points to ignite a 13-2 run by the Lady Cougars to start the second half. Columbia stretched its lead out to 54-32 on a pair of free throws by Tierney Seifert with 14:41 to play, but the Owls would battle back to pull within ten at 63-53 midway through the frame. However, the Lady Cougars answered back as Corpening hit her sixth three of the night on Columbia's next possession to push their lead back out to 13 with eight minutes remaining. The Lady Cougars would lead by double-digits the rest of their way to clinch their fourth consecutive win over William Woods dating back to last season.

English led all scorers with 20 points for Columbia, who shot 44 percent from the field and 32 percent from behind the three-point line. The Lady Cougar defense limited the Owls to a 30 percent shooting clip, while also forcing 24 turnovers. Corpening came off the bench to score 18 points and Laurel Wichmann also finished in double figures with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Seifert added eight points and a game-high six assists. Katie Scherder had 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead William Woods.

Columbia will resume conference play on Saturday afternoon on the road at Harris-Stowe State University. Game time is set for 2:00 pm in St. Louis, Mo.