COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 10 Freed-Hardeman Lady Lion basketball team take on Columbia (Mo.) College today for the AMC Conference Tournament Semifinals at 4:00 PM in Columbia, Mo.

COVERAGE

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SETTING THE STAGE

The Lady Lions enter today's match-up coming off a 63-58 victory over Williams Baptist (Ark.) College on Thursday to advance to the semifinal round.

As she has done all season long, Taleeah Cross led the Lady Lions on the offensive end with 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists as she went 11-for-21 from the field and 2-for-3 from behind the arc. Kenley Crowell and Kim Mallory followed close behind as both players put up 11 points in the victory. Tiffany Pate nearly put up a double-double in the match-up as she finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.

FHU (25-6) shot 41 percent from the field and 46 percent from behind the arc in the first half, which allowed them to take a comfortable lead in the first quarter. The Lady Lions would jump out to an early 17-5 lead in the first quarter to reach their largest lead of the game with 3:31 remaining in the quarter.

However, the comfortable lead would be short lived as Williams Baptist College (20-9) would open the second quarter with a 6-0 run and would continue to keep things tight to close the half. Although the Lady Lions would never trail in the half, the Eagles out-shot FHU 17-11 in the second quarter to close the gap to three points at the 26-23 mark with 2:04 remaining and would stay within reach to enter the half down 30-25.

The Eagles would continue to keep things tight in the second half as they consistently provided answers to the scoring runs made by the Lady Lions. Alytrius Perry led Williams Baptist on the offensive end as she finished the night with 18 points and four assists to keep her team within striking distance.

Williams Baptist would cut the Lady Lion lead to just one point in the fourth quarter as Alisha Stone would open the scoring drive with a three-point field goal followed by a layup by Andrea Moffitt to make it anybody's game at the 47-46 mark with plenty of time remaining.

However, the Lady Lions would respond to the scoring run by the Eagles as Taleeah Cross would convert a jump shot followed by a huge three-point field goal by Kenley Crowell to put FHU back up six at the 52-46 mark with seven minutes remaining. Kim Mallory would respond with a layup moments later to put the Lady Lions up eight.

The Eagles would cut the lead back to four points with just under a minute to play at the 62-58 mark, but FHU would convert their free throws down the stretch to secure the 63-58 victory to advance to the conference semifinal round.