Fulton, Mo. – Tonight the twelfth ranked Columbia College women's basketball team was back in action when they traveled to Fulton, Missouri, to take on William Woods (Mo.) University in an AMC matchup. The Cougars were able to defeat the Owls by a final score of 74-57 and improved to 15-3 on the season and 9-3 in conference play.

William Woods got off to a quick start in the first quarter knocking down their first three shots of the game, including a three pointer, to jump out to an early 7-0 lead in the contest. However, the Cougars responded quickly with Mai Nienhueser finishing off back-to-back layups to get their offense rolling. Each side exchanged baskets over the next few minutes, but the Owls were able to jump out in front and took a 20-19 lead into the second quarter.

The Cougars were able to use the time between quarters to regroup and it showed at the start of the second. They came out attacking the Owls on offense and were able to go on a 10-0 run to start the quarter. The Owls did their best to catch back up to Columbia as the half progressed but the Cougars held them off and took a 38-34 lead into the halftime break. Columbia College was led by Ashlee Marlatt who had 12 points in the half.

The Cougars continued to push the tempo at the start of the third quarter and were able to start the period on an 8-3 run to take a nine point lead in the game. They played lock down defense in the period and shut down the Owls offense holding them to just seven points in the third quarter. Their strong defensive effort helped the Cougars extend their lead into the fourth quarter and the Owls were never able to recover as Columbia cruised to their third straight victory.

The Cougars had three players finish in double figures tonight including Ashlee Marlatt who finished with a team high 19 points. In addition to Marlatt, Raegan Wieser dropped in 17 points and Hannah Sutton added a season high 14 points to round out the top performers for Columbia.

The Cougars are back in action on Thursday, January 19^th when they play host to Central Baptist (Ark.) College in an AMC matchup. The game is set to tip-off at 5:30 p.m. in the Southwell Athletic Complex.