COLUMBUS - No. 14 University of North Georgia outscored the Columbus State University women's basketball team 21-10 over the third quarter to fuel itself to a 72-63 win on Saturday in Peach Belt Conference action. The game took place inside the Frank G. Lumpkin Jr. Center.

The Lady Cougars (14-12, 7-9 PBC) were hanging in against one of the nation's best after going into the half tied at 29. 

Early in the third, a 3-pointer from Emilia Tenbrock put CSU on top 34-31 before things went south. UNG rattled off a 10-2 run, going up 41-36 with three minutes left in the third. After an Alycia Reese 3-pointer halted the spurt for a moment, the Nighthawks closed the quarter by scoring the final nine points to hold a 50-39 lead heading into the fourth. 

North Georgia (20-3, 14-) cruised to the win in the fourth, stretching its lead to a game-high 20 points at the 6:00 minute mark.

"You just can't go cold against a team like that," commented head coach Matt Houser. "We did a lot of things right today, but that third quarter did us in. We have no time to feel sorry for ourselves and got to finish the season out strong."

It was a low-scoring first quarter with North Georgia holding just a 7-2 lead midway through the opening 10 minutes. Columbus State didn't let things get away from them though, managing to keep it a 15-10 game after one.

The Nighthawks were up nine, 21-12, with 7:43 left until the break when Columbus State stepped on the gas. Over the next six minutes, the Lady Cougars outscored UNG 13-2, moving in front 25-23 on a pair of Reese free throws. CSU's defense forced six turnovers in the spurt while going 4-for-7 from the field.

The two teams exchanged buckets from there, going into the break tied at 29. 

The margin wouldn't get over three in the third until the game-changing 10-2 run.

Three Lady Cougars scored in double-figures led by Amber Abusbeih's 16 points. The freshman added six steals and four assists. Imani Arnold had 12 points, seven rebounds and six steals on Senior Day, while Tenbrock ended the game with 10. 

CSU shot 34.3% (23-for-67) overall and were 5-of-18 from 3-point range (27.8%).

Julianne Sutton had a 22-point, 14-rebound double-double to pace North Georgia.

Columbus State forced 31 Nighthawk turnovers on Saturday.

UP NEXT
Columbus State will head to Aiken, S.C. on Wednesday, Feb. 23 to take on USC Aiken in a PBC tilt. Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m. in Convocation Center.