Columbia, Mo. - The Cougar basketball team defeated American Midwest Conference (AMC) opponent Missouri Baptist 69-68 on Saturday afternoon at the Arena of Southwell Complex for their eighth straight victory. Columbia, the 23^rd-ranked team in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, improves to 12-4 overall and 8-2 in conference play with the victory, their 18^th straight over Missouri Baptist dating back to 2006.

The Cougars got off to a slow start to begin the first half and led by just one at 15-14 midway through the opening period. From there, Columbia reeled off a 12-5 run to gain some separation, but the Spartans used an 8-1 run to pull within one at 28-27 at the 6:18 mark. After trading baskets and a Missouri Baptist free throw the score was tied at 30 with 4:50 left to play in the half. The Cougars extended their lead out to nine as they outscored the Spartans 11-2 over the next three minutes, but Missouri Baptist scored the final four points to cut the deficit to five as the Cougars took the 41-36 advantage into the halftime break. Columbia shot 52 percent from the field led Corri Hamilton with 11 points to go along with her five rebounds in the first half.

The Spartans scored the first three points to cut the deficit to two, but the Cougars used a 10-3 run to extend their lead back out to nine at 51-42. Missouri Baptist continued to hang around and outscored Columbia 17-10 over the next nine minutes to pull within two at 61-59 after Taylor Klingelhoefer knocked down a pair of threes with 4:39 left to play. From there the Cougars used an 8-2 run to make it 69-61, but the Spartans responded with a three and a layup to cut the deficit back down to three at 69-67. A Columbia foul would allow Missouri Baptist to pull within one, at 69-68 with 1:19 to play in the game. With 12 seconds remaining, the Spartans were forced to foul where the shot was missed and rebounded, but Missouri Baptist was unable to seal the deal as their last attempt at a shot fell short.

Columbia hit 11 of 31 attempts from the floor to finish at 44 percent for the game. Hamilton led the way for the Cougars with 16 points, with Ashley Fisher and Kayla Washington adding 14 and 11 points respectively. Hamilton also pulled down nine rebounds and Tierney Seifert dished out a game-high six assists.

Columbia will hit the road on Thursday, January 15^th for a conference matchup with William Woods University. Thursday's contest is set for a 5:30 p.m. start in Fulton, Mo.