CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Buccaneer Field House will be full of holiday cheer and ugly Christmas sweaters on Friday evening as Charleston Southern welcomes College of Charleston for a Lowcountry showdown. Tipoff between the Bucs and the Cougars is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
Friday's matchup features one of the longest running rivalries in CSU history as the Buccaneers and Cougars face off for the 57th time. College of Charleston leads the all-time series, 45-11, including wins in each of the last four games.
The Bucs' last win in the series came back in 2010 when CSU topped the visiting Cougars on New Year's Eve with the 86-74 victory. Former CSU great Kelsey Wasmer posted 21 points to lead four Buccaneers in double-digits on the day, while Lakeitha Alston added 18 points and six rebounds.
Since then, the Cougars have won each of the last four contests and seven of the last eight, including last season's 79-52 victory inside TD Arena. In last season's matchup, CofC took advantage of 34 points off 25 CSU turnovers in taking the 79-52 win inside TD Arena.
The Buccaneers added a boost to their lineup this week as senior forward
Tierra Steede made her 2019-20 season debut in Monday's win over Columbia (S.C.) Steede posted a career-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting in the game, including 16 points during a decisive third quarter run in the Bucs' 76-59 win.
Overall against the Koalas, the Bucs took control of the game midway through the first quarter on their way to building a double-digit lead at the halftime break. CSU held off a pesky Koala second-half comeback attempt as Columbia threatened to cut the lead down to single digits on several occasions, before the Bucs put the game away from the free throw line.
Sharita Godfrey and
Carmella Walker kept up their scoring ways against the Koalas on Monday as Godfrey scored 11 points and added nine rebounds off the bench, while Walker's 14 points and a team-high two three-pointers paced CSU in the starting lineup. Godfrey has scored double-digits in six of CSU's eight games this season to lead the Bucs with 11.3 points per game, while Walker improved to 10.5 points per game following Monday's contest.
CSU boasted a season-best 90.5% mark from the free throw line in the win over the Koalas. The mark was the ninth-highest in Buccaneer single game history, and topped CSU's previous season-high at 83.3% (20-of-24) against North Dakota.
The Bucs' shooting prowess has also improved from the field in each of the last three games as the calendar turned to November. CSU hit the 40.0% mark for the third consecutive game, shooting 43.3% (26-of-60) from the field in the win over the Koalas.
CSU's defense has also been solid over the last five games with double-digit steal efforts in every game dating back to the November 26 matchup against Bethune-Cookman. CSU posted a trio of 14-steal games against North Dakota, Western Carolina, and Virginia University of Lynchburg.
CofC enters the Friday night contest with a 5-4 record so far in the 2019-20 season as the Cougars have posted wins over High Point, Coker, N.C. Central, S.C. State, and Winthrop. The Cougars are 3-2 overall on the road this season, including picking up the 84-73 victory over the Eagles in their latest road trip back on December 1.
The Cougars welcomed new head coach Robin Harmony to the sidelines this season after a strong head coaching tenure at Lamar. She led the Cardinals to three Southland Conference championships and four postseason tournaments over her six seasons at Lamar. Prior to that, she had a successful coaching career at St. Thomas (Fla.) University with three appearances in the NAIA National Championships.
Latrice Perkins leads three Cougars averaging double-digits in the scoring column with a team-high 16.6 points per game. Tyler Collins (14.3) and Deja Ford (10.7) are also averaging double-digits per game on the year with the duo combining for 27 of CofC's 48 three-pointers on the year. Arynn Eady leads the team's rebounding (9.2 rpg) and shot-blocking efforts (13) on the season.
Up Next
Charleston Southern returns to action following the holidays as the Buccaneers jump into Big South Conference play on Saturday, December 28, in Spartanburg, S.C. CSU tips off against USC Upstate at the G.B. Hodge Center at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
