Box Score Batesville, Ark. - The Lady Cougar basketball team overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat conference opponent Lyon College 82-73 on the road on Saturday afternoon. Columbia, the 14^th-ranked squad in the NAIA's latest Top 25 Poll, improves to 18-5 overall on the season and 14-1 in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) with the victory, their sixth straight win dating back to January 23^rd.

After the Lady Cougars jumped out to a 7-2 lead to begin the first half, the Scots came back with a 14-4 run to take the lead for good over the remainder of the period. Lyon would stretch its lead out to 11 on their way to a 39-31 halftime advantage, the first halftime deficit Columbia has faced in six games.

The Scots were able to maintain their eight-point lead for the first three minutes of the second half, but the Lady Cougars would battle back to grab a 54-52 edge on a three-pointer by Janairrika Bland at the 10:20 mark. Columbia took control of the game from there, reeling off a 17-5 run to take their largest lead of the contest at 71-57 with 3:36 to play. Lyon made one final run to trim the Lady Cougar lead to 75-71 with 1:34 remaining, but Columbia knocked down seven of eight attempts at the free-throw the rest of the way to close out the win.

The Lady Cougars shot just 37 percent from the field in the first half, but hit 16 of 25 attempts during the final period to finish at 49 percent on the afternoon. Heather English led five Columbia players in double figures with 16 points and also finished a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe. Bland added 14 points, Petrolina Chilaka contributed 12, and Ashley Fisher and Tierney Seifert chipped in 11 points each for the Lady Cougars, who outscored the Scots in the paint 30-16.

Columbia will return home to face AMC opponent Williams Baptist College on Thursday, February 13^th. The Lady Cougars won the first meeting with the Eagles 67-58 back on January 9^th. Tip-off is set for 5:30 pm at the Arena of Southwell Complex.