COLUMBUS - The Columbus State University women's basketball team continued its strong play to open the season Tuesday night defeating Tuskegee 80-61. The nonconference game took place inside the Lumpkin Center.
LeeAysia Williamson fell one point shy of tying her career-high leading all scorers with 28 points.
Taya Gibson had a monstrous night on the glass with 15 rebounds to go along with 14 points.
Kaihla Carter added 11 with seven boards and four steals.
"I loved how we set the tone in the first quarter," commented head coach
Matt Houser. "We put immediate pressure on them, and got things rolling in our favor."
"We need to sure up some things, including our free throw shooting. We won't be able to continue to overcome that every night."
Deep shooting once again was the Columbus State specialty. The Lady Cougars shot 45.5 percent from long range (10-for-22) while posting a 39.8 percent (33-for-83) mark overall. However, from the line, CSU was 4-for-12.
The Lady Cougars will hit the road for the first time this season after the Thanksgiving holiday. CSU will take on Eckerd on Friday, Nov. 29 at 5 p.m. before matching up with Valdosta State on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. Both games will take place in Valdosta, Ga. a part of the Valdosta State Thanksgiving Classic.
| Play-by-Play |
| First Half |
| It was all Columbus State over the opening 10 minutes as the Lady Cougars raced out to a 27-10 lead. After Tuskegee scored the opening bucket of the game, the Lady Cougars went on an impressive 19-2 run. Guards Carter and Williamson sparked the spurt thanks to the 3-ball as the two combined to score the final nine points in the stretch. Columbus State would eventually take its largest lead of the game 27-8 at the 58-second mark in the first. Early in the second, the Lady Golden Tigers clawed their way back into the game by scoring 10 straight to cut the deficit to just 29-20. After Tuskegee made a layup to make it just 32-25 at the 2:28 mark, Columbus State found its groove once again. The Lady Cougars scored 10 of the final 12 points of the half to go into the break up by 15, 42-27. |
| Second Half |
| It was a sloppy second half as Tuskegee went to the free throw line 29 times. Neither team could find a rhythm in the third quarter. CSU never allowed the lead to drop under 12 and took a 16-point lead into the fourth after Williamson capped off a fastbreak following a steal. Columbus State continued to answer every Tuskegee push and looked to be cruising to the victory early in the fourth following a Williamson 3-pointer that put CSU ahead 65-48 with 7:25 to go. However, eight straight points by the Lady Golden Tigers from the charity stripe made it just a nine-point game with over five minutes to play. Like they did it the first half, Carter and Williamson took over the game for Columbus State. Williamson hit back-to-back treys while Carter added another as the Lady Cougars push the lead back to 74-60. Baskets down the stretch by Chrisalyn Boston and Toxiana Wilson capped off the 80-61 victory by Columbus State. |
| Inside the Numbers |
• The Lady Cougars stay perfect with the win and move to 3-0 on the year. Tuskegee is now 3-4.
• Columbus State shot just 12 free throw attempts compared to 40 by Tuskegee.
• CSU has now won 18 straight nonconference home games against nonconference opponents.
• Williamson has scored at least 21 points in all three games this season. She leads the Peach Belt Conference in scoring averaging 23.3 points a night.
• The 15 rebounds by Gibson are the most by any Lady Cougar so far this season.
• Columbus State had 22 offensive rebounds leading to 23-second chance points. Overall, the Lady Cougars won the rebounding margin 51-43.
• The Lady Cougars have now won nine straight over Tuskegee. |
