Cougars Battle Defending National Champs on Road

Dubuque, Iowa – DeLaney Horstman had a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds while Mallory Shetley added 18 points for the Columbia College women’s basketball team in a 65-59 loss at No. 4-ranked and defending NAIA national champions Clarke University Tuesday in Dubuque, Iowa.
 
Clarke improved to 6-0 with the win, while Columbia fell to 5-2. Both of Columbia’s losses have come against Top-5 teams. 
 
Allison Stiers added nine points and Abby Backes had eight for the Cougars, who shot a season-low 31.1 percent (23-74) from the field and hit just six three-pointers in the loss.
 
Columbia jumped out to a 9-2 advantage in the opening three minutes of play behind four points from Horstman. Clarke answered with a 9-0 run to  take a 14-11 lead with 3:29 left.
 
Shetley scored on a lay-up and then hit a three-pointer to tie the contest at 16-16. Shetley had nine points in the first quarter as Clarke led 22-20 after 10 minutes of play.
 
Shetley and Horstman combined to score the first nine points of the second quarter as the Cougars took a 29-24 lead with 6:56 to play before half. Columbia took its largest lead at 34-26 after a bucket by Horstman. The Cougars outscored Clarke 20-15 in the second quarter.
 
Horstman (15) and Shetley (14) combined to score 29 points as the Cougars led 40-37 at half. Columbia shot 41.0 percent (16-39) from the field, and hit 4-of-14 from three.
 
The Cougars missed their first 13 shots from the field in the third quarter and Clarke responded with a 9-0 run to take a 46-40 lead. Stiers nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key to end the scoring drought, and then Backes canned a corner three to tie the score at 46-46 with 3:21 left in the third.
 
Clarke outscored Columbia 17-9 in the third quarter to take a 54-49 advantage.  The Cougars shot just 3-of-20 (15.0 percent) from the field in the quarter.
 
Columbia got the lead back with a 10-4 run to take a 59-58 with 5:11 left, but did not score the rest of the game. 
 
Clarke had five players score in double figures: Taylor Haase (16 points), Maci Kuchta (13), Taylor Norris (11), Mya Merschman (11), Nicole McDermott (10).
 
The Cougars host Friends University on Saturday, Nov. 25 at Noon.
 
NOTES: Clarke has won the three all-meetings between the two teams  … The 18 points for Shetley was a season high … Clarke trailed for the first time this season at half … The Pride have won 10-straight games dating back to last season .. The double-double for Horstman was her fourth of the season … Columbia turned the ball over a season-low six times.