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By: Richard Navratil
 
COLUMBUS – Following the program's first back-to-back regular season championship titles, the 24th-ranked Columbus State University women's basketball team took their first postseason step in the right direction Sunday with a 72-54 victory over Flagler. The Peach Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinal contest took place inside the Lumpkin Center.
 
The Lady Cougars improve to 23-4 on the year and secure the home site for the PBC semifinals and championship game next Saturday and Sunday on the Herbert Greene Court.
 
Much like during the regular season, Michelle Mitchell paced CSU towards the victory with her ninth double-double on the year, scoring 21 points with 14 rebounds. Britteny Tatum supplied 13 points of her own for her sixth straight double-digit scoring game.
 
"We took care of business on our court, especially defensively" said head coach Jonathan Norton. "We never really let Flagler get too close, and now we are thankful that we get to host the PBC Tournament semifinals and championship games."
 
Mitchell put the Lady Cougars on the board 2-0 on the opening possession, but Flagler (13-14) buried a three on its first play to take the early lead. Back-to-back jumpers by Ashley Asouzu put the Lady Cougars back on top and ended the one and only lead Flagler would have on the day.
 
Two straight threes from Mitchell helped CSU stretch the lead and the Lady Cougars used a 6-0 run to take their largest lead of the quarter at 15-7. Flagler hung tough though, holding Columbus State scoreless over the final two minutes of the quarter and cut the lead down to 19-13.
 
Columbus State's scoring drought rolled more than two minutes into the second quarter allowing the Saints to pull within four. Ashley Johnson finally put an end to it with 7:31 on the clock, starting a 7-0 run. The spurt included a steal and layup from Tatum and a three-pointer by Brea Walker.
 
Flagler answered with five straight points, however the Lady Cougars then poured in eight unanswered to open up a half-high 14-point advantage. Columbus State headed to the locker room at halftime up 34-23.
 
CSU kept the Saints at a distance throughout the third quarter, pushing the edge out to 17 on Eryn Cochran's three-pointer with under to minutes to go.
 
The Lady Cougars stretched the margin out to 19 in the fourth before Flagler made its last push. FC went on an 11-2 run to cut the lead down to 10 (62-52), but the run would end there as Erin Morrow buried the first of her two threes in the game. CSU scored 12 of the final 14 points to wrap up its 31^st straight home victory.
 
Columbus State shot 43.3 percent (26-for-60) from the field and was 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from outside. The strong defense produced 45 total rebounds and nine steals.
 
The Saints shot only 33.9 percent (21-for-62) and made 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) three-pointers.
 
Columbus State will now move onto the semifinals of the PBC Tournament next Saturday. The Lady Cougars will take on Augusta, with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m. inside the Lumpkin Center.