Columbia, Mo. – This afternoon the 11th ranked Columbia College women's basketball team was back on the court when they hosted the Stephens (Mo.) College Stars in an AMC matchup. The Cougars winning streak continued as they defeated the Stars by a final score of 98-43. Columbia improves to 15-5 on the season and 13-1 in conference play.
The game started off a bit sloppy on both ends as each team was looking to find their rhythm. The Cougars started to find the bucket as they went on a quick 10-0 run forcing the Stars to call a timeout midway through the first. Columbia's offense was clicking as they pushed their lead to 20 points. On the defensive end, the Cougars held the Stars to just four first quarter points as they led 24-4.
Columbia picked up right where they left off as Jordan Alford knocked down a three less than 10 seconds in. A quick steal and a bucket from Alford, followed by back to back buckets from Ashlee Marlatt extended Columbia's lead to 30 within the first three minutes of the second quarter. The Cougars showed no signs of backing down as Grey Hayes nailed back to back shots from beyond the arc. The Stars were able to go on an 8-4 run to close out the quarter, but Columbia held all control leading 50-18 at halftime. In the first half the Cougars were shooting 51 percent from the field, 62 percent from three, and 86 percent from the line. Columbia caused 11 Stephens turnovers while snagging eight steals in the half.
Coming out of halftime the Stars were looking to steal some momentum, but they could not slow the Cougars down and were struggling on the offensive end against the Cougars strong defense. Holding Stephens to just eight points in the third, the Cougars led 74-26 heading into the fourth. The Stars continued to fight, but Columbia was too much to handle as they shot 49 percent from the field and 60 percent from three, as well as 71 percent from the charity stripe. The Cougars would secure their ninth straight win by a final score of 98-43.
Grey Hayes and Raegan Wieser led the Cougars in scoring with 19 points each. Hayes went 5-8 from three, while Wieser was 4-5. In addition, Ashlee Marlatt had 16 points, going a perfect 4-4 from three. Jordan Alford and Ukari McKinney each chipped in 10 points to total five Cougars in double-digits. Alexis Uffmann handed out a game high eight assists, while Sarah Walters pulled down a game high eight rebounds. Columbia shared the ball well as they had 23 assists, while causing 23 Stephens turnovers in the contest.
Columbia College is back in action on Thursday, January 25th when they travel to Belleville, Illinois to face Lindenwood University-Belleville in an AMC matchup. The game is set to tip-off at 5:30 p.m.
