Fulton, Mo. – The 7^th-ranked Columbia College women's basketball team fell to William Woods University in their last regular season game by a score of 64-59 on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, Columbia finishes the 2015-16 regular season with a record of 26-4 and 20-4 mark in conference play.

The Cougars outscored the Owls 14-11 in the first quarter, but William Woods scored 19 points compared to just 11 by Columbia in the second to carry a 30-27 advantage into the halftime break.

Columbia quickly erased the halftime deficit with a 6-0 run to begin the second half. The Owls' Julia Wells hit a three to tie the game at 33, however, Columbia used an 11-0 run to stretch their lead out to double-digits at 50-39. William Woods would pull within four at the end of the third quarter as Bailey Rollins hit back-to-back threes and made a free throw to make the score 50-46.

A bucket by Nia Lateju and a three by Kelsey Scherder to begin the fourth quarter allowed the Owls to regain the lead at 51-50. A basket by Petrolina Chilaka and Corri Hamilton gave Columbia the 54-51 advantage. The Owls continued to hang around, pulling within one three different times before going ahead. With Columbia up 59-56 at the 1:42 mark, the Cougars committed two critical fouls, sending April Gebke and Lateju to the line where they both made 2-of-2 to give the Owls the 60-59 advantage. Over the next 56 seconds, the Cougars fouled the Owls three more times allowing William Woods to score four more points to pull away with the 64-59 win.

The Cougars were limited to 33 percent shooting while the Owls finished with a 42 percent clip. Columbia also struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on just 5-of-26 to finish shooting 19 percent. The Cougars held a slight advantage on the boards, outrebounding the home team 40-39 for the game. The Owls took advantage of 22 Cougar fouls to score 14 points which proved to be costly. Hamilton led all players with 16 points and eight rebounds while Chilaka and Ashlee Marlatt also finished in double digit scoring with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

William Woods was led by Gebke and Bailey Rollins with 13 points apiece.

Columbia will be idle until Thursday, March 3^rd when they host one of four American Midwest Conference (AMC) Tournament quarterfinal games. The Cougars will be the No. 2 seed in the tournament after finishing second in the conference regular season standings behind Lyon College. Columbia will face No. 7 seeded Park University. Tip-off for Thursdays contest is set for 7:00 pm at the Southwell Complex.