ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Charleston Southern fell behind early and the Buccaneers were unable to mount a comeback on the road on Sunday afternoon as CSU fell in Big South action to host UNC Asheville inside Kimmel Arena, 73-48.

The Bulldogs jumped out ahead, scoring the first 12 points of the game and went up by as many as 27 points in the first half before a late surge by Charleston Southern put the halftime score at 38-19. The second half saw CSU bring the game all the way back to within 14 points at 46-32 following a layup by Alyssa Mann, but Asheville rattled off the next eight points to put the game out of reach in coasting to their second win of the season over the Buccaneers.

Charleston Southern falls to 8-12, 4-7 in Big South play on the season with the loss, while Asheville opens up the second half of the conference slate with the win in improving to 9-11, 6-5 in Big South action.

DJ Fowler led CSU on the afternoon with 13 points and added five rebounds in the loss as CSU shot 24.3 percent as a team from the floor. Erin Bratcher was also in double-digits with 11 points, while Tatum Jarvis led the CSU defensive efforts with a team-high seven rebounds and two blocked shots.

Asheville had three players in double-digits in the win, led by Shonese Jones' 17 point performance. Leah Wormack added 14 points and Brittany Gwyn had 12 points and four assists for the Bulldogs. Jeannie Buckner was Asheville's leading rebounder with 10 boards in the game as Asheville held the 51-33 rebounding edge in the win over CSU.

Charleston Southern missed their first nine shots from the floor before Rochelle Brophy put the Buccaneers on the scoreboard with 14:05 to play in the first half as Asheville took advantage of the CSU shooting woes in building a 12-2 advantage. Jones connected on a pair of early three-pointers for the Bulldogs during the stretch, while Wormack had a pair of layups to put the Asheville advantage into double-digits early.

With the Buccaneers still struggling to hit from the floor, Asheville went up by as many as 27 points in the first half, taking the 34-7 lead with 6:21 remaining on the clock following a Paige Love layup.

Monique Maximilien finally stopped the CSU slump with a layup with 5:14 remaining as the Buccaneers went on a 12-2 run to cut the deficit back down to 36-19. Maximilien added another layup during the run, while Christal Barnett hit a short jumper to support the CSU offense before Fowler connected on a pair of three-pointers, the last coming with 45 seconds left in the half to narrow the margin down to 17.

Gwyn put in the final basket of the half for the Bulldogs with 22 ticks remaining and CSU missed two opportunities to score of the final stretch as the Bucs went into the break trailing 38-19.

The CSU comeback continued throughout the first part of the second half as the Buccaneers rallied to bring the game back to within 14 points at the 10:46 mark on a layup by Mann. Fowler connected on her third three-pointer of the game and connected on a free throw to put the score at 43-23 with 17:38 left, before Nayla Long drove in for the layup. Long's ensuing make on the free throw attempt put the score at 43-26.

Following a Tianna Knuckles three-pointer with 12:53 on the clock, the Buccaneers scored six straight points with Jarvis driving in for the layup, before Mann connected on a jumper and layup to put the score at 46-32 at the 10:46 mark in the game.

The 14 point margin was the closest CSU would get the rest of the way though, as Asheville followed with an 8-0 run capped by four straight free throws made by Tyler Smith and Knuckles to stretch the lead back out to 22 points as Asheville went up by as many as 28 the rest of the way in closing out the Big South win.

Charleston Southern is back in action at home next week as the Buccaneers remain in Big South play, welcoming Winthrop to the Buc Dome on Thursday night. Tipoff between CSU and the Eagles is set for 7 p.m.