Columbia, Mo. –The 6^th-ranked Cougar women's basketball team defeated American Midwest Conference (AMC) opponent Harris-Stowe State University by a score of 72-64 on Thursday evening, picking up the regular season series sweep against the Hornets for the eighth straight year. Columbia improves to 20-1 overall and 14-1 in conference play with the victory, their 18^th straight over Harris-Stowe dating back to 2008.

At the end of the first quarter, the Cougars led 16-13 with the help of 10 points by Corri Hamilton. Columbia extended their lead to eight with a 7-2 run at 28-20 in the second quarter, but six straight points by the Hornets cut the deficit to two. After trading baskets, Harris-Stowe battled to tie the game at 32, but a 6-0 run by the Cougars allowed the team to carry a 36-32 advantage into the halftime break.

Both teams shot 50 percent in the first half, but Columbia held an 18-11 advantage on the boards. Hamilton led all players with 12 points.

After fighting for points, the Hornets were able to pull within one two different times and eventually took a 47-45 lead at the 3:37 minute mark. The Hornets outscored the Cougars 9-4 and held a 56-49 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

Harris-Stowe maintained their advantage until Petrolina Chilaka scored nine straight points, including a three pointer at the 3:28 mark to allow the Cougars to regain their lead at 65-62. The Hornets' Angela Randall worked her way through traffic for a make to pull Harris-Stowe within one, but Caprese Marshall drove in for a layup to make it 67-64. With the clock winding down, Harris-Stowe was forced to foul the Cougars three times, allowing Columbia to score five of the last point's six points to pull away with the 72-64 victory.

The Cougars shot 47 percent on the night and outrebounded the visitors 37-30 while the Hornets finished shooting 46 percent. Chilaka led all players with 24 points and Kei'yana Pearson chipped in a career-high 18 points. Hamilton posted her fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds and Marshall finished with 10 points.

Harris-Stowe was led by Randall with 12 points. Atlantis Sutton had 11 points while Monae Riley and Maronda Evans finished with 10 points apiece.

Prior to tonight's game, Hamilton was honored for scoring her 1000^th point. On January 16^th in a win over William Woods University, Corri became the 11^th player in Cougar women's basketball program history to score one thousand points. She now sits in 10^th place overall in the history books with 1,038 points. Corri has scored 294 points this season in 21 games for an average of 14 points per game. 

The Cougars will return to conference action Saturday, January 30^th when they host St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Game time is slated for 2:00 p.m.