AMERICUS, Ga. - The Columbus State University women's basketball team held off a second half rally from Georgia Southwestern to register a 76-68 road victory on Wednesday. The Peach Belt Conference game took place inside the Storm Dorm in Americus, Ga.

CSU (13-4, 8-3 PBC) led 59-34 midway through the third quarter before a furious 14-0 run by GSW cut the margin to 11. In the fourth, GSW made things interesting getting within five, 66-61, with less than three to play.

Down the stretch, Columbus State showed its resiliency by going 8-for-8 from the line over the final minute, including six from LeeAysia Williamson. Jurnee Smith also helped clinch the victory with a fastbreak layup in the closing seconds.

Williamson scored a game-high 22 points, including eight in the final 10 minutes, going a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Both Chrisalyn Boston (10 pts., 16 rebs.) and Aujana Dawkins (12 pts., 11 rebs.) recorded double-doubles in the contest while Boston added four blocks. 

Kaihla Carter was the fourth Lady Cougar in double-figures in scoring with 15. 

"You will never complain about picking up a road win, but it was a struggle for us in the second half," added head coach Matt Houser. "We have to find that knockout punch somewhere along the way and stop allowing teams to get back into the game."

"It's never easy in this league because everyone is so well prepared. We have another challenge ahead of us on Saturday with Augusta looking for some payback."

Columbus State shot 37.5 percent from the field (24-for-64) and went 5-for-13 on 3-point attempts. The Lady Cougars had one of their best games of the year from the charity stripe posting a 74.2 percent clip (23-for-31).

The Lady Cougars will stay on the road on Saturday, Feb. 1 to take on Augusta. Tipoff is scheduled for 1: 30 p.m. inside Christenberry Fieldhouse in Augusta, Ga. CSU defeated Augusta 69-60 in Columbus on Jan. 20.

 

Play-by-Play

First Half

After Georgia Southwestern (6-11, 2-9 PBC) scored the opening bucket of the game, Columbus State took off. Fifteen straight points gave the Lady Cougars a 15-2 lead by the midway point of the first quarter. Aujana Dawkins was active early on with seven points in the stretch, including grabbing a steal that led to a layup capping off the run. GSW cut the margin to seven, 15-8, but five straight points from Kaihla Carter, including a second-chance 3-pointer, pushed the score to 20-8. Including Carter's output, CSU scored nine of the final 12 points of the first to hold a 24-11 advantage. The Hurricanes pulled within seven, 27-20, over three minutes into the second before the 3-ball started to fall for CSU. Valeria Merlos connected from downtown at the 6:22 mark which started the barrage of four straight from beyond the arc seeing the Lady Cougars build a 43-22 lead. Merlos hit two of the four 3-pointers during the spurt, which jumpstarted a 22-4 run overall allowing Columbus State to take a 49-27 lead into the break.

Second Half

Things became interesting in the third quarter as Georgia Southwestern stormed back into the game. With 7:27 showing on the clock, Dawkins started a potential game-ending stretch with a layup that was the first of eight straight points for the Lady Cougars seeing the lead grow to 25, 59-34. However, Georgia Southwestern had different plans. A 14-0 GSW run put the Hurricanes down 11 before inching within seven, 62-55, by the end of the period. The lead was just five before Boston battled in the paint to push the margin to 64-57 with 5:44 to play. From there, both teams struggled mightily offensively for the remainder of the game with no points coming until Lex Chatman made a pair of free throws for GSW bringing CSU's lead down to five with 2:49 to go. After another scoreless stretch, Williamson forced a steal and drew a foul with less than a minute remaining. The junior was perfect at the line, starting an 8-for-8 stretch for CSU from the charity stripe allowing the Lady Cougars to seal the victory.

 

Inside the Numbers

• Columbus State avoided back-to-back losses for the first time this season.  • With her four blocks, Chrisalyn Boston is now fourth all-time in Columbus State history with 92 career rejections. Boston passed former Lady Cougar Ashley Asouzu (2013-17) on the list. • It was the eighth time this season that Peach Belt Conference-leading scorer, LeeAysia Williamson, scored 20 or more points. She has now gone over 20 in three consecutive games.   • Aujana Dawkins now has six double-doubles this season, all in PBC play. Boston has four, including two in the previous three games.  • Columbus State shot 51.5 percent (17-for-33) in the first half compared to just 22.6 percent (7-for-31) in the second. • The two sides combined to make just nine field goals in the fourth quarter. • CSU set season-highs in free throws made (23) and free throw attempts (31). • The Lady Cougars scored 27 fast break points compared to 10 from the Hurricanes. • Columbus State improves to 28-5 all-time over Georgia Southwestern and now has won 15 of the previous 16 meetings.