Columbia, Mo. - The 20^th ranked Women Cougar basketball squad opened the season with a victory in Coach Keller's debut over visiting Central Christian College of the Bible for their first meeting in history by the score of 103-27. The Cougars move to 1-0 on the year, winning their first game for the fifth consecutive season.

In her final season as a Cougar, Aqua Corpening came out firing, scoring the first five points to help the Cougars gain an early 15-4 lead. The Cougars led by as much as 31 in the opening frame and took a 45-15 advantage at the halftime break. They hit at a 58 percent clip from the field and connected on six of 13 attempts (46%) from beyond the arc in the first period, led by 12 points from Corri Hamilton and 11 from Corpening.

Columbia's hot shooting carried into the second half as they extended their lead to 59 with a 29-0 run coming out of the locker room to begin the second half. The Cougars continued to roll throughout the second period, stretching their lead out to 76 on their way to victory. Columbia connected on 23 of 33 attempts from the field in the final frame to finish at 64 percent for the game, while also forcing nine Lady Saint's turnovers.

Four Cougars ended the night with career highs including Brittany Yost with a game high 19 points. Corpening tied her career high with 18 points and shot 4-6 from three point range. Corri Hamilton and Amber Percival set new career highs with 15 points apeice while Ashley Fisher rounded out the scoring with 13 points on the night. Newcomer Martha Imoniana dished out a game high seven assists while Senior Tierney Seifert shot 3-4 from behind the arc and finished the night with nine points.

Columbia will return to the court this Friday, November 7^th and Saturday, November 8^th to host the Cougars vs. Cancer Classic, presented by Cost Cutters. Columbia will face off against Bethel College on Friday at 6 pm, followed by a matchup with University of the Cumberlands on Saturday at 6 pm. All games will be played at the Arena of Southwell Complex.