November 12, 2011

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Fort Lauderdale, FL – Dominique Gilbert recorded her first double-double of the year but it was not enough as the Columbus State University women's basketball team fell to Nova Southeastern 78-69 Saturday night. The game was a part of the sixth annual Nova Southeaster Tip-Off Classic which was played at the Don Taft University Center. 

CSU is now 1-1 on the season while NSE improved their record to 1-1. 

Both teams came out a little sloppy to open the game as the two sides only made three combined baskets in the first four minutes and 43 seconds of action. Chatil Bradford connected on two straight shots to stretch the Lady Cougar lead to 8-2 before Jasmine Wilikns made a pair of free throws with just under 14 minutes to go in the half. 

The Lady Cougars would then go on a quick 8-2 run in just over three minutes to take a 16-7 lead halfway through the half. Gilbert had four points during the spurt.

Nova Southeastern would respond however scoring 10 unanswered points. The run was capped off by a Danielle Robinson trifecta to give the hosts their first lead of the game at the 5:28 mark.

The two sides would exchange baskets all the way to the final buzzer of the first half. The Lady Cougars broke the third tie of the game with 33 seconds remaining after Gilbert grabbed a rebound and laid one in to give CSU a 27-25 lead. The Sharks would quickly move the ball up the court and Mixandra Porter drained a three-pointer with 10 seconds left to give Nova a 28-27 halftime advantage.

Coming out after the break, the two teams would go back and forth with neither team having a lead larger than three points through the first 10 minutes of the half.

The Sharks would quickly take a seven point lead after tallying eight points in a two minute stretch. The Lady Cougars would not fold however as Asha Alexander scored eight points in under 50 seconds to cut the NSE lead down to 64-63 with 5:57 remaining in the game.

Carrie Washington knocked down two free throws with a little more than three minutes left in the game to keep the score within two before Jessica Walter would knock down a game changing three to give the Sharks a 71-67 lead with 2:52 remaining. Nova would connect on free throws down the stretch to put the game out of reach for CSU.

Gilbert scored 18 points and brought down 11 rebounds in the loss while Alexander and Shan Basley tallied 13 and 12 points, respectively. Letiecia Davenport also chipped in with seven points and eight boards.

Robinson scored a game-high 23 points while her teammate Porter knocked home three three-pointers for 22 points.

Columbus State will have a week off before traveling to Carrollton, GA to take on West Georgia on Saturday, November 19. Tip-off is schedule for 8:00 p.m.