Lady Cougars Cruise Past Augusta State 62-46

Columbus, Ga. -- Columbus State out-scored visiting Augusta State 23-4 in the first eight minutes of the second half on Saturday and cruised to a 62-46 Peach Belt Conference women's basketball win at the Lumpkin Center.

CSU (11-8, 5-4) held the visiting Jaguars to just 19 first half points, but were not exactly an offensive juggernaut themselves, scoring just 29 points and holding the 10-point cushion at the break. That all changed after halftime as the Lady Cougars found some offensive rhythm and pulled out to a comfortable margin.

Renee Jackson scored less than a minute into play to start the big run, and two consecutive three-pointers by Kelsie Weynand ended it with a bang, making the score 52-23 with 11:42 left. CSU would equal that margin again with 6:09 left after a Hali Moore jumper made it 60-31.

Lady Cougar head coach Jonathan Norton had the luxury of playing a number of different combinations in the second half, allowing ASU to close the game on a 15-2 run. Tara Tranum scored the final basket for CSU with 33 seconds to play.

Phebe Smith was solid again, scoring 15 of her 19 points in the first half. She finished with nine rebounds and went 8-9 from the floor, adding two blocks and two steals. Weynand went 4-6 from three-point range on the day to finish with 12 points, while Nakita Holt scored 10 of her 11 points in the second half and finished with eight assists. CSU shot 60 percent in the second half to finish at 52 percent overall and held a 36-33 advantage on the boards.

Waneta Carlisle led ASU with nine points on 4-11 shooting. The Jags shot just 21 percent in the first half and 26 percent overall.

CSU finishes its three-game home stand on Wednesday at the Lumpkin Center, hosting PBC newcomer Montevallo at 5:30 p.m.