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By: Stephen Williams

YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – A six-minute drought to end the second quarter put the Lady Cougars behind for good as the 23^rd-ranked Columbus State University women's basketball team dropped a 55-51 decision at Young Harris. Sunday's Peach Belt Conference game was played at the YHC Basketball Arena.
 
Michelle Mitchell led the Lady Cougars with 12 points on the day. Gabby Williams turned in an outstanding stat line going for 10 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals.
 
"I'm not happy about how we played today," said head coach Jonathan Norton. "We had too many breakdowns on the defensive end and threw the ball all over the place on offense."
 
Columbus State (13-4, 7-3 PBC) came out of the gates strong scoring the game's first six points. A three-pointer from Brea Walker extended the lead out to seven and CSU held a 15-10 edge after the opening quarter of play.
 
After YHC had cut the lead down to two, a pair of free throws from Walker and a Mitchell bucket gave the Lady Cougars a 21-15 lead with six minutes until halftime. It would be the last time CSU would score in the opening half however.
 
Young Harris (8-9, 3-7) drilled three consecutive three-pointers to take its first lead of the day and then kept adding on. The run concluded at 15 unanswered points and the Lady Cougars trailing 30-21 at halftime.
 
The six-point output in the second quarter was the lowest scoring quarter of the season for Columbus State.
 
CSU quickly put the scoring drought to rest after halftime as Williams connected on back-to-back threes in the first 90 seconds of the third. Williams hit again from beyond the arc late in the quarter to get the Lady Cougars within two.
 
Trailing by three entering the fourth, Mitchell grabbed a rebound and raced to the other end for a layup to make it 42-41 with 8:39 remaining. Columbus State would get three consecutive defensive stops, but all three ensuing possessions came up empty for the Lady Cougars.
 
The Mountain Lions buried a three to extend the lead back to four and the Lady Cougars would only get the deficit inside of one possession once more the rest of the way.
 
The Lady Cougars shot 32.8 percent (20-of-61) on the day and made 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from the three-point line.
 
Young Harris was 18-for-59 (30.5 percent) overall, but shot a blistering 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from outside.
 
Columbus State will return home for a matchup with Flagler on Wednesday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. inside the Lumpkin Center.