Lady Cougars knock off Hannibal-LaGrange
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Hannibal, Mo. – The Columbia Lady Cougar basketball team knocked off Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) College 96-82 tonight. With the win, the Lady Cougars improve to 17-1 overall and 5-0 in American Midwest Conference (AMC) play. Columbia is ranked No. 8 in the NAIA and logs their 17th straight victory tonight. Hannibal drops to 5-13 overall and 1-3 versus league foes.
The Lady Cougars allowed the Trojans to play with them for the first 10 minutes of a very physical game. But the duo of Veronica Smith and Rachel Oswald combined for 28 first half points to lead the Lady Cougars to a 51-41 advantage at the break.
Columbia wasted no time taking control of the contest in the second half, opening up with a 14-0 run. Hannibal kept plugging away at the deficit, but they were never able to pull ahead of the Lady Cougars.
The Lady Cougars shot 53 percent from the field and 91 percent from the free throw line, going 21 for 23.
Five players collected double figures for the Lady Cougars, led by Victoria Smith with a career high 30 points and 11 rebounds. Rachel Oswald, Whitney Widaman and Denise Rosario tallied 21, 17 and 11 points, respectively. Janita Session also chipped in 10 points.
The Lady Cougars continue their march through the AMC regular season on Thursday, Jan. 21 when they host Missouri Baptist University. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. in the Arena of Southwell Complex.