Columbia, Mo. – This afternoon the 12^th ranked Columbia College women's basketball team was back in action when they faced off against William Woods (Mo.) University in their final game of the regular season. This game served as senior night for the Cougars and before the start of the contest Columbia College honored the seniors on the team for their hard work and dedication to the program throughout their time in Columbia. The Cougars were able to defeat the Owls by a final score of 66-64 and head into the AMC Tournament with a record of 25-5 on the season and 19-5 in conference play.

The Cougars got off to a quick start in the first quarter as they played tough defense on the Owls and forced them to turn the ball over several times in the first few minutes of the game. They took advantage of William Wood's sloppy play and jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the contest. However, the Cougars had trouble scoring the ball as the quarter progressed but a 5-0 run at the end of the period propelled them to a 14-11 lead heading into the second.

Columbia College came out firing on the offensive end in the second quarter as they opened the period on a 12-4 run and held a 26-15 lead midway through the quarter. They continued to apply a heavy amount of pressure to the Owls on the defensive end of the floor and forced them to turn the ball over 11 times in the half while taking a 34-21 lead into the halftime break. The Cougars were led by Morgan Brandt who finished with nine points in the half.

In the second half of the game, both sides came out of the break and had a tough time scoring the ball. It took three minutes for Columbia College to finally break the lid off of the basket and they scored five straight points to take a 14 point lead midway through the third quarter. The Owls did their best to get back into the contest and were able to tie the game at 64 with less than a minute to play. However, the Cougars were able to knock down their free throws in the final seconds of the game and solidified the third seed in the AMC Tournament.

Columbia College was led by Morgan Brandt who finished with a game high 17 points. In addition to Brandt, Ashlee Marlatt finished with 16 points and Sarah Walters added 12 points to round out the top performers for the Cougars.

Columbia College is back in action on Wednesday, March 1^st when they host Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) University in the first round of the AMC Tournament. The Cougars split the season series with the Hornets as they won the first game by a final score of 73-65 and were defeated in the second game by a final score of 68-41. The contest is set to tip-off at 7 p.m. at the Southwell Athletic Complex.