Lady Cougars upset No. 24 Augusta State - WTVM.com-Columbus, GA News Weather & Sports

Lady Cougars upset No. 24 Augusta State

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COLUMBUS, Ga. – For the first time in nine tries, the Columbus State women's basketball team defeated a nationally ranked opponent as they took down No. 24 Augusta State 61-54 Thursday night in a Peach Belt Conference battle inside the Lumpkin Center.

CSU last bested a top 25 team on February 17, 2010 when they beat No. 15 Clayton State 67-61 in Morrow.

The game didn't start according to plan for the Lady Cougars as they turned the ball over five times and fell behind 11-2 in the opening five minutes of play.

Columbus State (14-9, 10-6) slowly crept back into the contest over the next six and a half minutes as they outscored the Lady Jaguars 12-0 during that span.  Tandria Milton and Taren White led the charge each scoring five points apiece.

Augusta State (16-5, 9-5) would regain the lead at the 7:05 mark as Laci Schreiber hit a jumper to put them back in front 17-16.

There would be seven lead changes and four tie games through the remainder of the half with Columbus State taking the lead for good, 31-28, with 1:28 left before the break as Tae Smith hit a three-pointer.  White and Smith would both add buckets before the half to give the Lady Cougars a 37-28 advantage going into the locker room.

CSU would continue their stellar play to begin the final 20 minutes of play outscoring Augusta State 11-2 in the first 5:21 of the second half.  Four different Lady Cougars scored during that time paced by Tae Smith's five points. 

The 11-2 run combined with the 7-0 spurt to close out the first half gave CSU an impressive stretch in which they outscored the Lady Jaguars 18-2 over a 6:49 span.

Columbus State only scored six points over the next 10 minutes that allowed ASU to slowly get within six (52-46) with 4:19 left in the game, but that would be as close as they would get the rest of the contest. 

The Lady Cougars quickly responded with five straight points pushing the lead back to double digits and held on for the victory.

Taren White scored a game high 17 points and added five rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.  Tae Smith and Chatil Bradford also hit double figures netting 10 points apiece while Asha Alexander went for eight points and pulled down eight boards.

Taylor Ayers led the way for ASU as she also posted a game best 17 points.  Jemiah Ashby was the only other Lady Jag in double digits as she scored 10.  Becky Newhouse pulled down a game high nine rebounds.

Columbus State was 24-for-58 (41.4%) from the field including 5-for-16 (31.3%) from long range.  ASU was 23-for-57 (40.4%) from the floor but went just 2-for-13 from three-point land.

CSU will return to the court on Saturday, February 16 when they host Georgia College.  The pivotal PBC match-up will tip-off at 3:30 p.m. at the Lumpkin Center.