NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Deja Ford scored a career high 26 points on 8-14 shooting to lead the College of Charleston women's basketball team to a 65-63 victory over Lipscomb on Sunday afternoon and move Charleston to 3-5 on the season.

Darien Huff got the Cougars rolling with a three from the corner in the opening seconds, Tyler Collins quickly added four points of her own. The Cougars reaching the end of the first quarter shooting 41% from the field, but 8 turnovers helping Lipscomb to a two-point lead.
 
Both teams struggled offensively in the opening minutes of the second quarter, the Bison holding onto their lead until Charleston forced a turnover with Huff knocking down her second three of the game to put The College on top.

The senior capped an 8-0 run (Charleston going 4-4 from the field) with a fast break layup to hit double digits for the eighth straight game.

Lipscomb rallied to re-take the lead just before the half with a jumper, Charleston opening the third quarter with two straight three's from Ford to take a 36-31 lead.

Ford's hot hand continued, the junior going 5-5 from the field to open the third quarter and give Charleston a 45-39 lead at the media timeout.

The Bison came out in the fourth to level the game at 51-51 with a trey, the teams exchanging baskets until Ford and Ericka Broughton made back-to-back layups to push the lead to four points.

Ford then grabbed a rebound and put-back, quickly followed by a three from the top of the arc, to give her a career high 26 points and Charleston a 64-60 lead as the game entered the final 90 seconds of regulation.
 
Huff added a jumper in the paint to push the lead to six with 60 seconds remaining, free throws and a three-pointer pulling the Bison's back within one.

Lipscomb stole the ball on the next possession, working down the clock for the final shot which bounced across the rim for Broughton to pull down the rebound and ice the game by making one of two free throws and give Charleston the 65-63 victory.

With the win Charleston moves to 3-5 on the season, 2-0 all-time against Lipscomb, as they look to the final two games before the Christmas break against Charleston Southern on Wednesday night followed by Presbyterian on Friday afternoon. Both games will be broadcast live from TD Arena on the Charleston Sports Network.

Quotable – Head Coach Candice M. Jackson
"This win was big for us... We'd been in a slump for too long and it feels so good to get back on track... We needed this game to knock some rust off [after two weeks off], and just like any other team right now we have some injuries and fatigue that we're battling, but this win really helps confidence and we take this momentum into Wednesday [against Charleston Southern]... Deja [Ford] came up big in the second half and it was good for Darien [Huff] to play in front of her family and friends during her senior year."

Notables
• Deja Ford set a new career high with 26 points (she set her previous high of 22 in the last matchup vs. App. State).
• Ericka Broughton earned her first start as a Cougar, grabbing a team high 9 boards.
• Tyler Collins added 9 assists – her joint second highest single game total of the season.
• Charleston came into the game as the 18^th best team from the free throw line (78%) – but shot only 61% against the Bison.
• Charleston out-rebounded Lipscomb 42-35, 30-23 on the defensive end.
• The Cougars held the Bison to 32% from the field.