Charleston Southern University Athletics
3-1
Paine
1-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paine | 33 | 37 | 70 |
| Charleston Southern | 36 | 46 | 82 |
Lady Bucs pull away late in 82-70 victory over Paine
11/24/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Five CSU players scored double-digits in the game as the Lady Buccaneers pulled away in the second half in recording the 82-70 victory over visiting Paine College.
DJ Fowler narrowly missed out on the double-double with 10 points and nine steals and added six assists as Charleston Southern (3-1) improved to 2-0 in non-conference action inside the Buc Dome on the season.
"One thing that helped out today was our balanced scoring," commented head coach Fred Applin following the game. "Shay (Jones) came in and had a great game for us as we battled through foul trouble and Lakeitha (Alston) responded from early trouble by understanding her role on the court in not fouling and leading us down the stretch."
Lakeitha Alston had 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds in the contest, while Erin Bratcher and Shay Jones added 14 points apiece for CSU. Anicia Dotson was also in double-digits for the first time in the season with 10 points as Charleston Southern shot 50.9 percent (29-for-57) from the floor as a team in the victory.
Paine falls to 1-4 on the season with the loss, led by Ariel Brown's game-high 16 points in the contest. Kiara Farley was also in double-digits with 12 points, while BreAsia Burns had 10 points in the loss. Paine held the advantage on the glass, out-rebounding the Lady Bucs, 45-31, thanks to a game-high 10 rebounds by Kiara Johnson.
"We can't let teams out-rebound us in games like this," said Applin of Paine's advantage on the glass. "We have different players going in to play right now and we have to figure out the right combination on the floor. We preach about one team and playing solid defense and that's going to help us win games. We have to work on crashing the boards and playing with pride."
The first half was a defensive battle between the two teams as Charleston Southern and Paine combined for 23 turnovers and 11 steals over the first 20 minutes of play.
Erin Bratcher score the first points of the game as the junior guard connected from behind the arc with 18:09 to play to give CSU the early lead, while DJ Fowler drove in for the fast-break layup to put CSU up 5-0. Paine overcame eight turnovers before the first media timeout to bring the game back to within one behind back-to-back baskets by Ariel Brown to put the score at 5-4.
Charleston Southern built their largest lead of the half at five points on three separate occasions in the first half with the last coming at the 12:11 mark following a layup by Whitney Collins as CSU went up 13-8.
Paine followed with a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the game with 9:05 on the clock as Kiara Farley hit a pair of free throws to give the Lady Lions the 14-13 lead.
The teams battled with four ties and five lead changes over the next four minutes before Brown snapped the 19-19 tie with a three-pointer for Paine to give the guest their largest lead of the half at 22-19 with 5:34 on the clock.
The game stayed a one-possession game throughout the remainder of the first half before Fowler recorded one of her five steals in the first half to tie the game up at 30-all with 1:46 to play on the clock. The layup sparked a series of four straight CSU drives to the basket as Fowler and Shay Jones scored eight consecutive points for the Lady Bucs to put the score at 36-32 in favor of the home team.
BreAsia Burns scored the final point of the half, converting on the second of two free throws attempts with six ticks remaining on the clock to put the score at 36-33 in favor of Charleston Southern as the teams headed into the halftime break.
Paine brought the game back to within one point early in the second half as the Brown hit a short jumper and Watts drove in for the layup to put the score at 38-37 with 18:25.
Charleston Southern responded with a 7-0 run behind five points by Bratcher as the junior guard converted on the old-fashioned three-point play and added a layup as the Lady Bucs went up 45-37 with 17:10 remaining in the contest.
The lead reached double-digits for the first time on the afternoon as Alston pulled down the offensive rebound off of a missed CSU three-pointer. The senior forward from Myrtle Beach, S.C. went back up for the basket to give CSU the 49-39 lead with 11:28 to play in the game.
Charleston Southern extended their lead to 14 with Bratcher hitting a three-pointer from the top of the key with 5:49 on the clock to put the Lady Bucs up 62-48.
Kiara Johnson brought the score back within single digits with a jumper in the paint with 3:59 left on the clock, cutting the lead down to 64-56. However, Alston followed with the three-point play, converting a layup and free throw to extend the lead back to double-digits and CSU led by as many as 15 in closing out the 82-70 victory.
CSU was helped by 13 steals as Charleston Southern scored 25 points off of 26 Paine turnovers in the contest. CSU also shot a sparkling 90.5 percent from the free throw line in the game hitting 19-of 21 attempts led by Alston's perfect seven-for-seven shooting from the charity stripe.
"We'll take tomorrow off and come back on Monday and get ready for Presbyterian," said Applin about opening up Big South play on Wednesday. "They're a good team that beat Clemson earlier this season and have all of the weapons. It'll be a good week as we prepare for them."
Charleston Southern begins Big South Conference play on Wednesday, November 28th as the Lady Bucs travel to Clinton, S.C. to take on Presbyterian College. Tipoff inside the Ross E. Templeton Physical Education Center between the Lady Bucs and the Blue Hose is set for 7 p.m.
