Lady Cougars Get 64-57 Road Win at Georgia Southwestern

Americus, Ga. -- Columbus State used a 10-2 run over the final minutes of the first half to tie the score, and carried that momentum over to the second half in taking a 64-57 Peach Belt Conference women's basketball road win on Saturday. CSU snaps a two-game losing skid and moves to 10-7 overall and 4-3 in the PBC, while Georgia Southwestern is now 8-9, 4-3.

"It was not a masterpiece by any means, but we will take a win any way we can get it," said CSU head coach Jonathan Norton. "We still have to find our rhythm offensively, but we had some people step up tonight and make some shots and that helped us get a good win on the road."

CSU trailed 21-13 with 4:30 to play in the first half as both offenses struggled to sink shots. Two Phebe Smith free-throws started the 10-2 run as the Lady Cougars rattled off five straight points before the Hurricanes could score again. CSU scored the final five points of the half - the last two coming on a Smith layup with 28 seconds left - and held GSW without a field goal for the entire length of the run. That Smith bucket tied the score at 23.

The Lady Cougars scored the first four points of the second half and would eventually lead by five in the early going, but could not pull away. The Hurricanes took the lead briefly midway through the half, but a Turelle Jones three-pointer with 8:21 left gave CSU the lead for good at 46-44. That shot started a 9-0 run for the Lady Cougars as they took a 52-44 lead with 5:38 left after Renee Jackson's layup.

The Hurricanes would get as close as two points, but a Nikki Urbizo trey squelched the momentum and put CSU back up by five with 3:57 left. The Lady Cougars would go on to lead by eight again a short time later before GSW attempted one final run, getting as close as three points with 26 seconds left after Brandi Burns trey made it 60-57. Free-throws by Urbizo and Lauren Ringfield sealed the win for the Lady Cougars in the final 23 seconds.

Smith led CSU with 15 points and 12 rebounds on the night, going 5-11 from both the floor and the free-throw line. Urbizo added 12 points as she went 2-4 from three-point range and 4-4 at the line. Turelle Jones added eight points off the bench. CSU still struggled a bit at the line, going 17-27, but held a 41-32 advantage in rebounds and shot 54 percent in the second half.

Reynolds led GSW with 19 points, while Jessica Bivins came off the bench to score 16. The Hurricanes shot 38 percent on the night and forced 24 CSU turnovers.

CSU returns home on Thursday to start a three-game home stand against yet another ranked team. #14 Lander comes in for a 5:30 contest at the Lumpkin Center.