CHARLESTON, S.C. - South Carolina State held a double-digit lead midway through the first half and never trailed as the Lady Bulldogs handed the Lady Buccaneers their first home loss in the 2012-2013 season inside the Buc Dome as Charleston Southern fell on Wednesday evening, 73-57.

Lakeitha Alston entered the top 10 in the all-time Lady Bucs (3-4) scoring ranks with 10 points in the contest, surpassing Joy Galloway with her final basket in the second half as the senior forward from Myrtle Beach, S.C. finished the contest with 1,134 career points. Junior guard Erin Bratcher added a season-high 17 points hitting four three-pointers in the game, while DJ Fowler was also in double-digits with 10 points in the loss.

S.C. State (7-2) was led by Tiara Knotts' 16 points, while Brittany Cochran (12) and Paris Alston (10) were also in double-digits as the Lady Bulldogs won their third consecutive contest and second win against Big South opponents on the season. Alston narrowly missed the double-double with nine rebounds as SCSU led the battle of the boards with the 44-32 advantage on the glass.

S.C. State opened the scoring as Cochran drove in for the layup on the opening possession to give the Lady Bulldogs the early advantage. Knotts followed with a jumper, but Fowler responded with a layup and free throw for the three-point play to even the score at 4-all with 18:00 left in the first half.

Kourtney Williams followed with a pair of free throws as the Lady Bulldogs went up seven following a Knotts' three-pointer with 13:33 on the clock to put SCSU up 13-6. Zhaquondalee' Greer hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead back within two points for the Lady Buccaneers, putting the score at 19-17 with 9:02 to play in the half.

Mykala Jones followed with a jumper sparking an 8-0 run capped by three-pointers by Duren and Cherisha Floyd as the Lady Bulldogs' lead reached double-digits at 27-17 with 7:30 to play in the half.

CSU cut the lead back to within single digits at 29-21 following a Bratcher three-pointer and Alston free throw, but SCSU closed out the final six minutes of the contest with a 15-4 run capped by a Knotts' three-pointer to send the teams into the locker room with the score 44-25 in favor of the visitors.

The lead reached 20 at the 18:28 mark in the second half as Duren hit the second of two free throw attempts, putting the score at 47-27 as SCSU opened the half with a 10-5 run to build their largest lead of the night at 24 points with 16:14 left in the contest.

CSU rallied over the final minutes of the half, bringing the score back to within 14 on Bratcher's fourth three-pointer of the evening to put the score at 64-50 with 4:11 to play. Anicia Dotson closed out the game with the final five points for the Lady Bucs hitting a three-pointer and a short jumper in the paint as the Lady Bulldogs closed out the 73-57 victory.

Charleston Southern entered the game ninth in the NCAA Division I rankings in free throw percentage and the Lady Bucs continued their strong performance from the line hitting 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the charity stripe in the game.

CSU returns to the court next week as the Lady Bucs welcome Trinity Baptist to the Buc Dome on Monday, December 17th. Tipoff between CSU and the Eagles is set for 7 p.m.