Columbus State Wins 59-57 Thriller Over Fort Valley State

Fort Valley – Dominique Gilbert hit the game-winning shot with 34 second remaining in the game and Tandria Milton added an insurance free throw to propel Columbus State to a thrilling 59-57 victory over Fort Valley State Saturday afternoon.  CSU improves to 3-0 on the year while previously ranked FVS drops to 2-3 on the year.

The game was tightly contested throughout as the Lady Cougars had the largest lead of the game at 53-44 with 6:01 remaining in the contest off a Nakita Holt layup.  At that point, Fort Valley would use 13-3 run in the next 4:47 of action to take a one-point lead.  Yasheeka Jones scored six points in the paint while Kendra Evans added four points and Brandi Haynes hit a three-pointer to spark the run.  Jones layup with 1:14 left in the contest gave the Lady Blazers their first lead since the 14:24 mark in the second half.  That would set-up the Gilbert game-winning shot and Milton would pickup a steal to seal the deal.

Coming out of the half tied at 25 apiece, FVS scored the first basket forty seconds into the half for the early lead, but Holt responded right back tying the score.  The two teams would trade baskets through the 12:29 mark.  Marah Wright knocked down a three-pointer sparking an 11-2 CSU run.  The Lady Cougars would keep the lead until Fort Valley State made their late game comeback.

Marina DeFoor paced the offensive attack by Columbus State that had three score in double figures, scoring 17 points off the bench.  The freshman went 5-of-9 from downtown.  Holt added 12 points and Gilbert chipped in with 10 points as the other two in double-digits.  Gilbert and Carrie Washington grabbed a game-high eight rebounds while Holt recorded five assists and four steals.  The Lady Cougars shot 43.8% from three-point range and went 22-for-53 overall from the field.  They forced 20 FVS turnovers while holding its third straight opponent to under 40% shooting from the floor.

Evans and Jones scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, to lead Fort Valley State.  Evans scored eight of her 14 points from the free throw line.  Jones also added a team-high four assists while Jasmine Birdsong registered a team-high six rebounds.  They were just two-of-five from downtown and made 19-of-48 field goal attempts.

CSU will have a short turnaround as they host Shorter University Monday, November 29 at the Lumpkin Center.  Shorter is a perfect 8-0 on the year having last played on November 20, a 69-48 win over the University of Mobile.  Tipoff is set 5:00 p.m., as part of a double-header in which the men will take on West Florida following the Lady Cougars game.