Box Score Columbia, Mo. - The Lady Cougar basketball team earned a regular season series sweep of American Midwest Conference (AMC) rival William Woods University with a 95-56 home victory on Thursday night. Columbia, ranked 15^th in the latest NAIA Women's Basketball Top 25 Poll, improves to 15-5 on the season and 11-1 in conference play with the win, their fifth straight over the Owls.

Tierney Seifert and Heather English knocked down a pair of three-pointers to start the first half as the Lady Cougars raced out to an early 16-0 lead. Kayla Washington would cap off a 24-2 run to start the period with a pair of free throws at the 13:55 mark. William Woods was able to cut the deficit to 12 midway through the half, but Columbia closed the frame on a 9-2 run to take a 45-25 halftime advantage. The Lady Cougars shot 41 percent from the field and outrebounded the Owls 35-20 in the opening period, led by English with 17 points and Janairrika Bland with 11. Columbia led by doubles digits throughout the second half and stretched their out to 30 with a little over six minutes to play on their way to the convincing victory.

The Lady Cougars hit 18 of 30 attempts from the field over the final period to finish at 50 percent for the game and 45 percent from three-point range. Columbia also turned in one of their stronger defensive efforts of the year, holding William Woods to 25 percent from the floor and 5 of 24 from distance. Bland led three Lady Cougars in double figures with a game-high 21 points and 14 rebounds to go along with 20 points from English and 13 from Washington. English and Seifert each dished out five assists to lead Columbia, who owned a 58-34 advantage on the glass. Destani Stensrud finished with 13 points and Blake French added 10 to lead the Owls.

The Lady Cougars will face a quick turnaround and host AMC opponent Harris-Stowe State University on Saturday, February 1^st. Tip-off is set for 2:00 pm at the Arena of Southwell Complex.