Box Score Columbia, Mo. - The Lady Cougar basketball team defeated American Midwest Conference (AMC) opponent Park University 79-58 on Thursday night at the Arena of Southwell Complex to claim their fifth straight victory. Columbia, ranked 14^th in the latest edition of the NAIA Women's Basketball Top 25 Poll, improves to 17-5 overall and 13-1 in conference play with the win.

The Lady Cougars scored nine straight points to open the first half and built a double-digit lead at 21-11 with 6:42 to play in the frame. Columbia would take their largest advantage of the period at 40-26 on a pair of free throws by Danielle Duncan with under a minute to play, but the Pirates' Channell Mackey converted a layup in the final seconds to make it 40-28 at the halftime break. The Lady Cougars connected on 10 of 25 shots from the field and also managed to hit 17 of 20 attempts from the free throw line in the opening half, while holding Park to 30 percent from the floor and 1 of 9 from three-point range.

Columbia would stretch their lead out to 26 with the help of a 16-2 run to begin the second period, capped off with a three-point play by Corri Hamilton. The Pirates battled back over the next five and a half minutes to cut the deficit to ten at 58-48 with 7:26 to play. That was as close as Park would get however as the Lady Cougars ended the game on a 21-10 run to seal the victory.

Petrolina Chilaka led three Columbia players in double figures with a game-high 18 points on 4 of 4 shooting from behind the three-point line. Kayla Washington added 17 points and seven rebounds and Janairrika Bland chipped in 10 for the Lady Cougars, who shot 50 percent from the field and 7 of 16 from three for the game.

Columbia will return to the hardwood for a conference tilt with Lyon College on Saturday, February 8^th. The Lady Cougars defeated the Scots at home by a score of 86-71 in the two team's first meeting of the regular season back on January 4^th. Tip-off is set for 2:00 pm in Batesville, Ark.