Columbia, Mo. - The Columbia College women's basketball team dropped another hard fought contest to No. 20 Lyon College tonight by a final score of 76-72. The Cougars, ranked No. 24 in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, falls to 15-6 on the season and 11-4 in American Midwest Conference (AMC) Play while the Scots improve to 17-4 and 13-2 in league play.

The two teams battled back and forth as the score was tied 25-25 with four minutes remaining in the opening half. Columbia finally gained some separation scoring seven unanswered points to take the 32-25 advantage into the halftime break. The Cougars shot 44 percent (11 of 25) from the field and held the Scots to 41 (11-27) percent in the first half.

The two teams traded basket for basket at each end of the floor to begin the second half. The Cougars stretched their lead to 11 points seven minutes into the frame but Lyon immediately charged back and brought the game to within two at 46-44 just two minutes later and eventually took a 51-50 advantage with 9:25 midway through the final frame. The Scots were able to gain some separation, but Columbia clawed their way back as they pulled within one at 61-60 over the next five and a half minutes.

The game remained close as Caprese Marshall drained a pair of free throws to tie the game at 63 with two minutes left to go. From there Lyon outscored the Cougars 6-2 and led 69-65 at the 1:03 minute mark. Corri Hamilton then drew a foul where she made a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to two, but Lyon responded with a bucket and a made free throw to make it 72-67. Each team had two players head to the free throw line within the next 15 seconds to make it 75-69. With six seconds remaining, Hamilton hit a three pointer to make it a one possession ball game. The Scots inbounded the ball where the Cougars were forced to foul. Cayley Wagoner hit two free throws with four seconds left to put the game away.

Columbia hit 20 of 45 attempts from the floor to finish at 44 percent for the game. The Cougars were led by Hamilton with 16 points. Kayla Washington and Ashley Fisher also finished in double figures with 13 and 11 points respectively. Elliot Taylor led Lyon with 18 points, who shot 47 percent from the field (26 of 55) on the night.

The Cougars will be back on their home court to host No. 1 ranked Freed-Hardeman (20-1, 15-0 AMC) on Saturday, January 31^st in the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Game of the Week. The Lady Lions defeated Columbia 89-78, which came in Henderson, Tenn. back on December 6^th. Tip-off for Saturday's game is set for 2:00 pm at the Arena of Southwell Complex.