NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. -  The Charleston Southern women's basketball team wrapped up the 2023-24 season on Saturday, defeating the Presbyterian Blue Hose in dominant fashion with a 68-49 win inside The Buc Dome. 

Saturday's game was the best defensive performance for the Bucs (11-18, 8-8 in conference), as they allowed the Blue Hose (17-14, 8-8 in conference) to shoot just under 34% from the field, 29% from beyond the arc and forced 15 turnovers. They also out-rebounded the Blue Hose 42-20 in route to a season-low in points allowed. 

Charleston Southern picked up the intensity in the second quarter, allowing the Blue Hose score just five points before intermission.  The Buccaneers pushed their lead to 12 with a three pointer by Shimei Muhammad with 3:19 left in the second quarter. 

Presbyterian continued fighting, as they cut the deficit to four points with a three pointer with just over four minutes to go in the third quarter. After that the Bucs went on a 7-0 run capped off by an old-fashioned three-point play by Alaina Nettles, who made a lay-up and her free throw to push the lead back up to 11 points. 

The Bucs began the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run to push the lead up to 18 points. Their lead got to as high as 21 points when Keshunti Nichols made it 68-47 with under a minute left. 

Kennedi Jackson was the player of the game for Charleston Southern, finishing with 21 points and eight rebounds. Nichols was right behind her with 16 points and seven rebounds. 

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With the win, Charleston Southern secured the No. 4 seed in the Big South Tournament next week. They will play against Presbyterian next Thursday, Mar. 7 at 2 PM in High Point, N.C.

With eight conference wins, the Bucs finished Big South play with a .500 record for the first time since the 2018-19 season. The No. 4 seed is the best seed that they have had in the tournament since the 2009-10 season. The team lost to Coastal Carolina as the No. 4 seed that year.