Women's Basketball | 2/17/2018 2:40:00 PM
Box Score Conway, Ark. – This afternoon the 8th ranked Columbia College women's basketball team was back on the court when they traveled to Conway, Arkansas to take on the Central Baptist College Mustangs in an AMC matchup. The Cougars defeated the Mustangs by a final score of 86-56 to win their 18th straight game. Columbia improves to 24-5 on the season and 22-1 in conference play. With the win today, the Cougars have clinched at least a share of the conference title, the top seed in the AMC postseason tournament, and the first AMC automatic bid to the National Tournament.
The Cougars took the early 10-4 lead as the first quarter was underway, but the Mustangs would go on a 6-0 run to tie it up at 10 with about four and a half minutes left in the quarter. Over the next four minutes Columbia would be tied again at 14 before they went on a 6-3 run to close out the first leading 20-17.
The Cougars were moving the ball well on the offensive end as they used an 11-2 run to lead 31-19 about midway through the second. Columbia was playing steady defense as they held a 12 point lead with under three minutes to go before halftime. The Cougars defense held the Mustangs to 11 second quarter points as they led 42-28 at the half. Columbia was shooting 57 percent from the field and 50 percent from three, while they grabbed five steals off of 14 Mustang turnovers in the first half.
The Cougars carried their momentum right over to the third quarter where they showed no signs of backing down. Columbia continued to play at their pace as they led 71-43 with one quarter remaining. In the final quarter, the Mustangs continued to fight but the damage had been done and Columbia would cruise to their 18th straight victory by a final score of 86-56.
Mai Nienhueser led all scorers with 16 points, going 6-7 from the field, 4-7 from the line, and also grabbing five rebounds. In addition, Morgan Brandt (13), Raegan Wieser (12), and Jordan Alford (11) all tallied double digits. Ashlee Marlatt led all players in assists as she handed out six on the afternoon.
Columbia College is back in action on Saturday, February 24th when they host the Missouri Baptist University Spartans in their last regular season game. The game is set to tip-off at 1:00 p.m.
