CHARLESTON, S.C. - Ke'Asia Jackson sparked a Buccaneers second half run and the Charleston Southern defense held Winthrop scoreless from the floor for nearly 12 minutes as CSU topped the Eagles on Tuesday night in the Buc Dome, 54-51.

Jackson connected on a season-high 22 points with 13 coming in the second half as the freshman guard sparked a 17-4 Buccaneer run to take the lead late in the third period. CSU's lead reached double-digits midway through the fourth quarter following an Alyssa Mann three-pointer to give the Bucs the 48-37 lead. The Bucs held off a late Winthrop comeback attempt from the free throw line in closing out the Big South Conference win.

The CSU (5-2, 1-0) bench outscored the Eagles (1-6, 0-1) 25-11 in the contest behind Jackson's career-high effort as the guard hit 8-of-16 shots from the floor, including 2-of-6 from behind the arc in the win.

"Our bench played so well tonight," said CSU head coach Fred Applin. "Keke (Jackson) was huge. I've been challenging her since day one and she played great tonight. She was relaxed and just made basket after basket for us."

Monique Maximilien and Brianna Lakes both recorded 12 rebounds for CSU on the night with Maximilien (12 points) recording her third double-double of the season as the Buccaneers attacked the boards in the second half. CSU out-rebounded Winthrop 28-20 in the second half in taking the 46-44 edge on the glass.

"We had people step up in ways we needed tonight," said Applin. "Mo (Maximilien) rebounded really well and Bri (Lakes) had a great game tonight. I'm really happy with the way this team went after it and just did what they had to do to get a W. Our rebounding was a lot better in that second half, but we need to continue to work at it and keep going after the boards."

Mann was also in double-digits for the Bucs with 10 points as the reigning Big South Player of the Week connected on a pair of three-pointers for CSU.

"We saw a lot of maturity from this team tonight," Applin commented. "I'm really hard on them and really push them. But they just kept on fighting and responding to all of the challenges tonight. I hope we can play as well as we did tonight going forward. We really hustled and wouldn't back down. It was a lot of fun and a great way for us to kick off the conference season."

The Buccaneers continue Big South Conference play on the road this weekend in the Vines Center as CSU travels to Lynchburg, Va. and Liberty University. Tipoff on ESPN3 is set for 5 p.m.

Erica Williams recorded a double-double to lead the Eagles with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Arianne Whitaker added six points and 13 rebounds in the loss.

Winthrop held the 14-6 lead after the first period as the Eagles were led by the trio of Whitaker, Naima Jackson and Williams with four points each.

The Eagles' lead reached double-digits late in the second half following back-to-back free throws by Jackson before Ke'Asia Jackson took over. The CSU freshman guard hit back-to-back jumpers over the final 45 seconds to send the teams into the break with the Bucs trailing 28-22.

The Bucs held Winthrop scoreless from the floor in the third period as the Eagles shot 0-for-16 as a team over the 10 minute frame, hitting only four free throw attempts during the span. Jackson scored six of CSU's 15 points while Maximilien gave the Bucs their first lead of the game at the 4:59 mark on a jumper in the paint to give CSU the 32-30 advantage.

The Bucs' run continued in the fourth period with Nayla Long, Jackson and Mann all connecting on three-pointers during a 13-2 run that gave CSU their largest lead of the game at 50-37 with 3:56 remaining. Winthrop rallied back with a 10-0 run fueled primarily inside the paint, but it was not enough as CSU held on for the win.