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By: Stephen Williams

COLUMBUS – The Columbus State University women's basketball team stayed undefeated on Tuesday night with a 75-29 victory over Albany State. The non-conference contest was played inside the Lumpkin Center.
 
Alexis Carter led the Lady Cougars in scoring for the fourth consecutive game and narrowly missed her fourth double-double, finishing with 19 points and nine rebounds. Carter added five blocks to her Peach Belt Conference leading total and four steals.
 
Britteny Tatum made her first three shots from outside on her way to 14 points. Ashley Asouzu turned in 11 points and nine rebounds, and Gabby Williams tallied 10 points.
 
Columbus State's 29 points allowed were just one shy of the PBC record for fewest points allowed in a game. The Lady Cougars set the mark with a 48-28 win over Young Harris during the 2014-15 season.
 
"I was very pleased with the defensive effort tonight," head coach Anita Howard said. "We were able to mix up our looks on defense and force a lot of turnovers."
 
Columbus State (4-0) controlled the opening tip and got a three-point play from Keyrra Gillespie just five seconds in the game. From there, the Lady Cougars pulled away and never looked back.
 
While CSU's defense suffocated the Lady Rams, the offense got hot from the outside midway through the first. Tatum, Tatiana Wayne and Gillespie hit consecutive threes to close out a 14-0 run to start the game.
 
Albany State (1-7) finally broke its scoreless drought with 1:52 remaining in the first quarter and trailed 14-4 after the first 10 minutes.
 
The Columbus State lead continued to grow in the second, as the Lady Cougars scored 10 of the first 14 points to stretch the lead out to 16. After three straight ASU free throws, CSU went on an 11-0 run behind five points from Carter and threes from Tatum and Ariel Johnson.
 
The Lady Cougars took a 36-14 lead into the locker room at halftime and kept rolling after the break.
 
Carter took over the contest at the midpoint of the third quarter, scoring 12 straight Columbus State points as the margin crossed the 30-point mark. The lead ballooned even further in the fourth and Johnson's third three-ball of the night capped off a strong showing for the Lady Cougars.
 
Columbus State shot 35.1 percent (26-of-74) from the field and made a season-high nine three-pointers. The Lady Cougars forced 28 more turnovers in the win and have forced more than 20 in all four games this season.
 
Albany State was limited to just 19.4 percent (12-for-62) overall and missed all 15 three-point attempts.
 
Columbus State returns to action next Wednesday night, December 14, against King University. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the Lumpkin Center.