The College of Charleston women's basketball team trailed by as much as 12 in the second half and rallied to cut the margin to one with under a minute to play, only to fall short as the game-winner bounced off the rim at the buzzer to give Charleston Southern the 55-53 win in front of 326 fans tonight at the John Kresse Arena.
Charleston falls to 0-4 on the season, while Charleston Southern improves to 3-4.
Both teams started the game shooting poorly, with the Bucs holding the slight advantage in percentage, 28.1 to 25.7 for the half. The score remained close for the first seven minutes with the Cougars holding within a few points of the Bucs, but not able to get ahead. Leading 16-15 with 6:51 to go before intermission, Charleston Southern went on a 13-2 run over the next six minutes to take the 12-point 29-17 lead with 1:08 to go. Ericka Williams cut the margin to nine with a three-pointer at the 45 second mark for the final score of the half, as the Cougars trailed 29-20.
Charleston Southern built its lead back up to 12 over the first seven minutes of the second half and led 42-30 with 13:24 to go in the game. Charleston slowly began to chip away at the lead as Deidra Jones came alive, scoring 10 of the Cougars' 23 points during its 23-13 run over the final 13 minutes of the game. Trailing by six, 54-48, with 32 seconds remaining, Brooke Kotcella nailed a three-pointer to cut the margin to just three. After Charleston Southern missed a free throw, Tonia Gerty cut the deficit to one off a layup with seven seconds on the clock. The Cougars fouled and CSU made the first free throw and missed the second. The Bucs would recover the rebound but stepped out of bounds to give the Cougars the ball with six seconds left. Gerty took the ball down the court, and took the shot from just outside the three-point arc on the left side as time expired. The ball missed off the back of the rim to give the Bucs the 55-53 win.
Charleston put together a strong shooting effort in the second half, using a 42.9 percentage to finish the game with 34.3 percent. Charleston Southern shot 31.7 percent for the game. The Cougars held the rebounding edge 51-47 and had just three more turnovers, 15-12. Both teams struggled from the perimeter, with the Cougars three-for-22 and the Bucs, 4-for-11. Free throws played a major role as Charleston Southern ended with an 11-for-18 effort, and the Cougars, just two-for-eight.
Pam Tolbert led in points for CSU with 15, while Shaunte Small led in rebounds with 10. Leading the Cougars was Jill Furstenburg with 14. Deidra Jones followed with a career-high tying 12 points and 11 rebounds for her first career double-double. Erika Smith paced the team defensively with four blocks on the night.
Charleston Southern heads up I-26 for its next game, travelling to Columbia, S.C., to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks, Tuesday, Dec. 4th in a 7:00 p.m. contest. The Cougars continue their home stand with a 2:00 p.m. contest, Saturday, Dec. 4th, against Presbyterian.
