Cougs bounce back

Two days after having its five-game winning streak ended, the College of Charleston women's basketball team ended someone else's streak. The Cougars snapped Southern Conference leader Chattanooga's 13-game run of victories Monday with a 62-50 win over the Mocs before a crowd of 1,039 at Carolina First Arena.

The Cougars' win further tightened the regular season race. Chattanooga is 13-3 in the league while the Cougars are 12-4 with the same number of losses as Samford, which defeated Georgia Southern on Monday.

"By their scores, they looked like they had been getting better and better as they've gone along this year … I couldn't be happier about our performance today," said College of Charleston coach Nancy Wilson.

Charleston, which lost at Chattanooga 64-53 last month, jumped to a 17-6 lead and held a 37-26 edge at the half.

The closest Chattanooga could get in the second half was 11 points as Charleston moved in front by 19 points on two occasions. An 8-0 run in the latter stages of the game gave the Cougars a 62-43 lead with two minutes left.

"After the Samford game, everybody was disappointed in the way we played," said senior guard Jade Hughes, who scored 20 points, including nine on 3-of-5 3-pointers, and had four assists. "Everybody was ready to come back and show we can play the best in the league, that we deserve to be in the top of the SoCon."

Hughes was the Cougars' only double-figure scorer, with Ericka Williams coming off the bench to add nine points.

"I thought we played consistently throughout the game," Wilson said. "I don't think there was any big stretch where we let down at all or where we didn't have the momentum either going our way or matching their momentum. So I think this was big for us. I think it has to be good for our confidence and we can take this and use it in the future."

Charleston plays its final home game at 2 p.m. Saturday against Georgia Southern in a game designated as Senior Day and Pink Day, to raise money for the fight against breast cancer.

CHATTANOOGA (50): Rollins 6, Shanara Hollinquest 14, Christopher 6, Townsend 5, Jenaya Wade-Fray 15, Davis 4.

CHARLESTON (62): Kotcella 8, Jones 6, Jade Hughes 20, Mudd 5, Gerty 7, Williams 9, Crowell 3, McLaurin 4.

Halftime: Charleston, 37-26.