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By: Stephen Williams

COLUMBUS – A third quarter offensive explosion allowed the 10^th-ranked Columbus State University women's basketball team to coast to an 82-53 win over Young Harris on Saturday. The Peach Belt Conference contest took place inside the Lumpkin Center.
 
Britteny Tatum led the Lady Cougars in scoring with 15 points. Ashley Asouzu and Alexis Carter each ended in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Thirteen different Lady Cougars scored at least two points.
 
"We got off to a slow start in the first half, but we responded well in the third quarter and played more like ourselves," head coach Anita Howard said. "Our defense did a good job of forcing turnovers and it led to easy offense for us."
 
The two sides played to a stalemate through the first six and a half minutes before the Lady Cougars closed the quarter strong.

Carter scored to break the 11-all tie and CSU added on with contributions off its bench. Erin Morrow and Ariel Johnson buried 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, and Morrow hit again after a YHC make to give the Lady Cougars a 22-13 lead after 10 minutes.
 
The second quarter was a defensive struggle as Columbus State allowed just two field goals. Narshanda Malone ended the quarter on a high note offensively though, dropping in a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to send CSU to the locker room up 32-19.
 
Columbus State (19-1, 13-1 PBC) put the game away in the third quarter. Up 41-27, the Lady Cougar defense sparked a run of 19 consecutive CSU points that took a 14-point game and blew it open. Tatum scored the final seven points of the four-minute run.
 
The Lady Cougars had it in cruise control the rest of the way, as Young Harris (8-12, 4-9) would get no closer than 21 points.
 
Columbus State shot 51.6 percent (32-for-62) for the game, its second-best shooting effort of the season. CSU was 8-of-21 from 3 and 10-for-18 from the foul line. The Lady Cougars forced 26 turnovers, which led to 33 points.
 
Young Harris closed out at 31.5 percent (17-for-54) overall and just 5-for-23 from the 3-point line.
 
Columbus State will be on the road on Monday night at Georgia College. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in Milledgeville.