(LEBANON, Ill., March  8)—The McKendree University women’s basketball team won its fifth American Midwest Conference Tournament championship Saturday with a 78-66 victory at home against Columbia College.

 

Junior forward Emily Best (Wood River, Ill./East Alton-Wood River) (Wood River, Ill./East Alton-Wood River) posted a team-high 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bearcats to their 13^th consecutive victory. McKendree, the top seed in the AMC Tournament, moves to 24-8 and earns the conference’s automatic bid to the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship, which will be held March 19-25 at Oman Arena in Jackson, Tenn.

 

Junior forward Julie Garrison (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) came off the bench to add 13 points, while freshman forward Ashley Agee (Moberly, Mo./Moberly) (Moberly, Mo./Moberly) and senior forward Heather Elders (Energy, Ill./Herrin) (Energy, Ill./Herrin) chipped in with 11 points each. Senior forward Suzy Gerler (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds for the Bearcats.

 

McKendree held a 38-32 lead at the half, then held off Columbia by shooting 51.7 percent in the second half. A lay-up by Elders capped a 9-3 run to build a 61-49 lead midway through the second half. Columbia battled back to within eight points on two different occasions in the final 10 minutes, but the Bearcats were able to hold on down the stretch to lock up the AMC Tournament championship.

 

The Bearcats won the AMC regular-season title by going 13-1 in conference play. The tournament championship was the first for McKendree since the 2005-06 season. Saturday’s win marked the first time since the 1999 AMC final that the Bearcats were able to clinch the post-season title on its home floor.

 

Columbia was led by Keishell Paul, who came off the bench to score a team-high 15 points. Rachel Oswald contributed 13 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, while Whitney Davis posted 12 points for the Cougars. Columbia ends its season with a record of 17-15.

 

McKendree won all three meetings against Columbia this season. The Bearcats won 78-58 back on Jan. 26 in Lebanon and 67-61 on Feb. 19 in Columbia, Mo.

 

Pairings for the NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship will be announced on Wednesday, March 12.