13th-ranked Lincoln Memorial on Monday night. The championship
game was played inside the Lumpkin Center.
The victory was the third region championship in program history
and the first since 2001. Columbus State (31-1) will now head to
Columbus, Ohio for the national quarterfinals to begin Tuesday, March
21.
“I really felt like we finally put together a complete performance
from start to finish tonight,” head coach Anita Howard said. “Lincoln
Memorial is a great team and has been playing great basketball, but
we played well on both ends of the floor.
“We have been checking off goals this season: Peach Belt Con-
ference regular season champs, Peach Belt Conference Tournament
champs, Southeast Region champs, and now we can focus on the
ultimate goal of a national championship.”
A back-and-forth first quarter saw the Lady Cougars trail by four
points early on. Tatiana Wayne dropped in a 3-pointer to spark a 10-2
stretch that gave CSU a 15-10 advantage.
As it would most of the night, Lincoln Memorial (28-5) had the an-
swer as it knocked down a 3 of its own late in the quarter that brought
the Railsplitters back within two, 17-15, after 10 minutes of play.
Columbus State continued its strong shooting night from the
perimeter to start the second as Alexis Carter drained a pair sand-
wiched around one from Narshanda Malone. The second 3-ball from
Carter gave the Lady Cougars their largest lead of the day at 27-20 two
minutes into the second.
The lead spread out to as much as nine in the quarter, but LMU
hung within striking distance scoring seven of the final 10 points to
cut the CSU lead to 38-33 at halftime.
Lincoln Memorial continued to chop away at the lead, getting it
2016-17
down to two midway through the third. However, Columbus State
had the answer each and every time.
Leading 51-47, Britteny Tatum connected on her only 3-pointer
of the night and the Lady Cougars used it to fuel a 10-3 run to open
up their first double-digit lead of the game at 61-50 after three.
LMU refused to go away though, getting the deficit down to six
on three different occasions. Up 67-61, Jasmine Herndon grabbed a
huge offensive rebound and stuck it back in to stem the Railsplitters’
momentum and CSU pulled away from there.
Columbus State led by as much as 17 coming down the home
stretch on their way to the region title.
Alexis Carter ended the regional as the Most Outstanding Player
following 25 points, 14 rebounds, six steals an d six blocks on Mon-
day night. Ashley Asouzu was 7-of-10 from the floor and finished
with 18 points. Keyrra Gillespie added 11 points, nine assists and
seven rebounds. Asouzu and Gabby Williams were named to the
All-Tournament team.
The Lady Cougars shot 42.2 percent (27-of-64) from the field,
their highest total of the postseason. CSU knocked down 9-of-24
3-pointers and was 23-for-37 from the free throw line.
Lincoln Memorial ended the game at 35.4 percent (28-for-79)
overall and 7-for-24 from outside.
CSU’s Alexis Carter Named D2CCA All-American
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – In her first season in a Lady Cougar uniform,
Columbus State University women’s basketball player Alexis Carter
was named to the Division II Conference Commissioners Association
All-American Third Team. Voting for the teams was conducted by
The PBC Now - April
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