CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern struggled from the floor in their Big South opener and was unable to mount a comeback attempt in the second half as the Buccaneers fell to visiting UNC Asheville in the Big South opener for both teams on Monday night, 61-46.

Anicia Dotson led the Buccaneers with 14 points on the evening and DJ Fowler was in double-digits for CSU on the night with 10 points in 32 minutes, but the Buccaneers offense struggled from the floor in shooting 28.3 percent as a team in the contest.

"The biggest thing tonight was that they executed and rebounded better than we did tonight," head coach Fred Applin had to say after the game. "We didn't play well enough to win tonight. That is a credit to UNC Asheville. They played well tonight, but we need to be better about boxing out and rebounding. We've got to rebound every single night. If you don't rebound, you aren't going to be able to win consistently."

Asheville hit five of its first six shots in the second half to quickly assume a 40-28 advantage and force a CSU timeout with 17:19 remaining. Four different players scored during the opening stretch, which Shonese Jones started with a jumper and then capped with an open three in transition.

The Bulldogs lead reached as many as 18 in the second half, going up 48-30 on a three-point play by Leah Wormack with 12:00 remaining in the contest. The Buccaneers threatened to bring the game back to within single digits several times in the game, as Tatum Jarvis made four free throws late to cut the deficit down to 12 points at 57-45, but CSU was unable to build any momentum late in falling in their Big South opener.

"The Big South is a tough league, a very tough league," Applin had to say about the conference opener. "If we are going to be competitive team in this league, we've got to box out and rebound better. I think our biggest thing is we've just got to compete. We've didn't compete on the boards, we didn't compete in transition, and tonight we ran into a team that was ready and competed. We've got to get back in the gym, and look and some film, and we just have to make sure that everything we do is correctable."

Doston led the Bucs with 14 points, going 4-for-8 from the floor in the contest, while DJ Fowler had 10 points and four steals in the game to pace the Buccaneers. Alyssa Mann connected on two big three-pointers early in the contest on her way to finishing with nine points.

Leah Wormack led all players with 16 points in the game, while Shonese Jones connected on a trio of three-pointers to finish with 14 points as Asheville shot 38.9 percent from the floor as a team in the contest. Brittany Gwyn was also in double-digits with 10 points, while Paige Love finished shy of 10 rebounds, pulling down a game-high nine in the game.

The CSU loss leads the Buccaneers into their yearly winter exam break as Charleston Southern turns their focus to the classroom, before preparations start for the Bucs next game against perennial power North Carolina. Applin talked about the CSU plan for bouncing back and refocusing on their next opponents.

"Great teams always bounce back after a tough loss," Applin closed out with. "We're trying to compete for a championship. If we want to be at that level, we need to bounce back and prepare to play our next game. We've got to get better every day and work hard in practice. We had a tough night tonight. But we need to regroup and get after it. We've got to get after it and be ready to play every game for all 40 minutes. I've got to make sure they understand it is a long, long season. There are going to be more opportunities."

Charleston Southern's defense started out strong, compensating for early offensive woes as the Bucs missed their first eight shots from the floor, but trailed only 4-0 thanks to holding Asheville to 2-of-10 shooting. CSU was able to get on the scoreboard at the 15:10 mark, as Erin Bratcher buried a three-pointer from the top of the key.

Asheville built a lead as large as six three times behind sophomore forward Leah Wormack, who hit a pair of turn-around jumpers and converted a put back to give the Bulldogs a 13-7 advantage with 11:23 left in the first half.

CSU answered back however on the strong first half play of Mann as the redshirt freshman came free off a screen to knock down a corner three, and then swished home a contested one at the shot clock buzzer from nearly the same spot to tie the score, 17-17, with 8:01 remaining in the stanza.

Asheville's Ja'Da Brayboy made two free throws to put the Bulldogs back in front, before Anicia Dotson drilled a triple to give CSU its first lead in the game with 5:58 left before the halftime break at 20-19. DJ Fowler then stepped in front of a pass on the Bulldogs' ensuing possession and raced the other way for a layup to push the Bucs' advantage to 22-19.

The Bulldogs responded with five straight points to take the lead back, before Mann nailed an elbow jumper to re-instate a tie with 1:09 remaining in the period. Asheville countered with five straight points to take a 29-24 lead into halftime, though, as Wormack hit two free throws and Brittany Gwyn sailed in a three from the left wing at the buzzer.

Asheville's strong start to the second half prevented a CSU comeback attempt as the Bucs struggled from the floor, shooting 5-for-24 from the floor over the final 20 minutes in falling to .500 on the season.

CSU will take a twelve-day break from game action for final exams before paying a visit to the University of North Carolina on Saturday, December 1. Tipoff in Chapel Hill, N.C. is scheduled for 1 p.m.