Box Score Columbia, Mo. - A game that decided sole possession of first place in the American Midwest Conference regular season race delivered on the hype and excitement everyone expected it to have. The NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Game of the Week game went down to the wire between second ranked Freed-Hardeman University and the 12^th ranked Columbia Lady Cougars. Unfortunately for the Lady Cougars a last second shot didn't fall their way as they were defeated by the Lady Lions 84-82. With the loss the Lady Cougars drop to 22-6 on the season and 18-2 in conference play. The win moves Freed-Hardeman (27-1, 19-1) into sole possession of first place in the AMC.

The Lady Cougars came out of the gate on fire, taking a 7-0 lead and extending it to 13-3 just three minutes into the contest. The first half turned into a three point shooting contest as the teams combined for 16 three pointers in 29 attempts. Columbia extended its lead to as many as 11 in the first frame on the hot shooting of Heather English and Tierney Seifert finishing with 13 and 12 points, respectively. The Lady Lions were able to gain their first lead at the 6:33 mark of the first half when they went up 33-32. Columbia tied up the score once following that lead change but were unable to regain the lead as the Lion held a 47-45 advantage at the break.

The second half picked up right where the first half left off as the two teams traded basket for basket at each end of the floor. The Lady Lions stretched their lead to eight points five minutes into the frame but Columbia immediately charged back and brought the game to within one just a minute and a half later.

Lady Cougars went up 69-67 with eight minutes to go but after getting back-to-back stops and capitalizing at the other end, the Lady Lions went up 73-69 and did not relinquish the lead again.

With 44 seconds remaining, FHU's Brittany Montgomery connected on a three point play that gave the Lady Lions an 82-76 lead. But without missing a beat, the Lady Cougars raced to the other end and Heather English was able to connect on a three point play of her own, leaving 33 seconds on the clock and Columbia down three. The Lady Cougars sent the Lady Lions to the charity stripe where Montgomery made just one of her two attempts. After what seemed like an eternity to the fans the Lady Cougars finally got a shot off on the other end. Petrolina Chilaka's attempt fell short but Columbia grabbed the rebound and English drained a three-pointer, leaving FHU up 83-82. With seconds on the clock the Lady Cougars were forced to foul. Montgomery again made just one of her two attempts for the Lady Lions leaving the door open for Columbia but there just wasn't enough time as English had to throw up the shot from half court, a shot that would go wide of the basket, leaving FHU with the win.

English finished with 28 points to lead all scorers. Seifert and Janairrika Bland each chipped in 14 points and Aqua Corpening had 13. Seifert also had six assists. Columbia shot 37 percent from the field, 33 percent from beyond the arc and 94 percent from the free-throw line. The Lady Cougars outrebounded the visitors 47-44 and forced them into 15 turnovers.

Hayley Newby led the Lady Lions with 23 points and Grace Alonso de Armino grabbed 16 rebounds.

The Lady Cougars enter their final week of regular season play next week with two games slated to play. Columbia heads to Springfield, Ill. to take on Benedictine University-Springfield on Thursday, February 27^th at 5:30 p.m. Columbia defeated the Bulldogs on January 23^rd by a score of 114-59. The Lady Cougars return home on Saturday, March 1^st for their final regular season home game when they will take on Missouri Baptist University at 2 p.m.