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COLUMBUS - The Columbus State University women's basketball team saw their four-game winning streak snapped as Flagler came away with the 66-51 victory Wednesday. The Peach Belt Conference game took place inside the Lumpkin Center.
Tatiana Wayne led all Lady Cougars scorers with 16 points, but was the only CSU player in double figures on the night.
JaNoah Daniels finished with nine points, a new career high after hitting three early threes.
"With senior night tonight I thought our seniors did a good job of starting us off with the right energy," said head coach
Anita Howard. "But in the second half when you score just eight points in each quarter while giving up 22 it isn't a recipe for success. Approaching tournament time you have to be able to play through adversity so despite the loss it'll be a good opportunity to have a renewed focus as a team."
Columbus State got the early lead thanks to Daniels and her hot start. Getting the nod on senior night, she delivered in a big way hitting three first quarter threes to put CSU on top 16-8 nearing the end of the first. But Flagler would respond going on a 9-2 run to end the quarter cutting the Lady Cougar lead down to one.
Wayne would take over for CSU in the second quarter scoring nine points as the two teams traded the lead back and forth before heading into the halftime break tied at 35-apiece.
Usually a strong quarter for CSU, Flagler was the team that took over in the third quarter behind a lights out shooting performance from distance. The Saints went five-for-six from behind the arc in the third quarter putting up 22 points as a team. Columbus State meanwhile struggled from the field and only grabbed eight points in the quarter as the Saints opened up the double-digit lead.
The Lady Cougars tried to fight back in the fourth as Wayne started the quarter off with a three to cut the deficit the 11. The team forced two shot clock violations but the offense wasn't able to answer to cut into the lead. As the defense continued to get stops, a layup by
Taya Gibson followed by a three-pointer from
Tatum Jarvis cut the Saints lead down to eight with 4:48 remaining.
Unfortunately that would be the closest Columbus State would get as they didn't score a single point for the remainder of the game. The 16 total points over the final 20 minutes was a new second half season low for CSU.
As a team, CSU shot 24.3 percent (17-for-70) and 6-of-20 for 30.0 percent from behind the arc.
Columbus State will finish out the regular season on Saturday, March 2 at Clayton State. Tipoff is set for 1:30 p.m.
