CSU women avenge loss to USC-Aiken, advance in PBC tournament

The Columbus State Lady Cougars successfully avenged their only loss of the season Saturday afternoon, defeating USC-Aiken 62-51 at the Lumpkin Center to advance to the Peach Belt tournament semifinals.

The staple CSU defense led the way again, with the Lady Cougars forcing 27 turnovers from the Lady Pacers.

“I liked our defense,” said head coach Anita Howard. “It really carried us. That’s how you can win games throughout a tournament. Your offense can come and go, but your defense should be there every night.”

Only two Lady Cougars finished in double figures, with junior Alexis Carter leading the way as she has all season with 24 points and a whopping 16 rebounds.

“I think our seniors didn’t play to the level we expected them to play,” Howard said. “They’re pretty frustrated. The focus was there in practice, it just didn’t carry over to the game.”

Sophomore Tatiana Wayne scored 11 points off the bench, providing a spark for the team.

“That’s my firefly,” Howard said of Wayne. “She came in and did exactly what we wanted her to do, bring some energy off the bench. She told us she was ready, and she came in answered the call. We needed that. She’s just a sophomore, but she played like a senior.”

Although the Lady Cougars enjoyed a lead as big as 17 during the game, Howard was not pleased with the overall performance from her team.

“I don’t think we played like we wanted to play,” Howard said. “At this point in time, though, we definitely survived this craziness and were able to advance. I don’t think our energy was there tonight. We played well in spurts. Hats off to Aiken, they played us pretty physical on the inside.”

The Lady Cougars also had the revenge factor from the Jan. 7 loss in Aiken, the only blemish separating themselves from an undefeated season.

“They’re college students, so revenge was at the top of their minds,” Howard said. “As coaches, we got them to focus, not so much as hyped on the revenge aspect. We were the better team up there, we just didn’t play like it.”

The Lady Cougars shot just 30 percent from the field and an uncharacteristically low 40 percent from the free-throw line.

“We’re going to have a sleepover and shoot some free throws, probably,” Howard said with a laugh. “We’re going to watch film and see what happened as far as our execution. I think down the stretch, teams know what we like to run, so we have to figure out how to move the ball and not stand so much. We have to make sure our transition game is on point. We missed layups and easy jumpers we expect to put in inside our own gym.”

The Lady Cougars advance to play the winner of North Georgia and Francis Marion, whose result was pending as of press time. The game will be played Saturday at 8:30 p.m., with the final game taking place next Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Both games will be played at Lander, the highest East women’s seed.

This story was originally published February 25, 2017 at 8:28 PM with the headline "CSU women avenge loss to USC-Aiken, advance in PBC tournament."