Jackson Scores 1,000th Career Point As Women's Basketball Falls To Second Seed Anderson 78-70 In Tournament Semifinal

Belmont Abbey senior guard Courtney Naquin led all scorers with 21 points, and junior forward Shayla Jackson scored 18, surpassing 1,000 for her career, but the sixth-seeded Crusaders women's basketball team was eliminated from the Conference Carolinas Tournament with a 78-70 semifinal loss at Anderson this evening. The Abbey ends its season with a record of 18-11, while Anderson, which will host the tournament championship game Saturday evening, moves to 19-10.

The Crusaders posted a higher shooting percentage than the Lady Trojans, totaling a 56.3 percent effort (27-48) as Naquin led all scorers with 21 points on seven of nine shooting from the floor. Jackson registered 18 points on nine of 14 shooting with three assists and two steals, and senior guard Ashley Giddens added 16 points, eight assists and three steals in all 40 minutes. Amanda McDonald, who also played every minute, recorded career-highs with ten rebounds and two blocked shots to go along with three points.

Anderson shot 44.4 percent (24-54) as Shanice Wilson and Amanda Parris led five Lady Trojans in double figures as both logged 16 points. Ashley Abed contributed 15, while Maci Siniard and Alexa Neal had 14 and ten, respectively.

After two ties and seven lead changes, Anderson took the lead for good with four straight points, using a jumper from Wilson and a three-pointer from Neal to climb ahead by four at 21-17 with 11:35 left. Naquin answered with a three-pointer to slice the lead back to one, but Anderson countered with a 17-6 run burst over the next nine minutes to stretch its lead to 11 points, the largest of the half. The Crusaders chopped the lead to six at the half by scoring the final five points of the stanza, as Giddens rimmed home a three-pointer with 59 ticks left and McDonald drained a jumper at the buzzer to close the gap to 38-32 at the break.

In the early part of the second half the Crusaders stayed close to Anderson, never letting the Lady Trojans lead rise higher than eight points. Trailing 44-40 with 16:36 left, Anderson gained breathing room with a 14-5 run to move its lead to the highest of the game, 13 points, at 58-45 with exactly 11:00 left.

Belmont Abbey mounted one final charge, embarking on a 13-4 run that chopped the Lady Trojans cushion to two points at 62-60 with 5:47 left. The run was fueled by three layups by Jackson and three three-pointers, two by Giddens, with the second one punctuating the flurry, and another by Naquin.

Anderson quickly moved its lead back to five with a three-pointer by Parris, which ignited a 16-10 game closing run for the Lady Trojans, who sank six free throws and added a layup in the final 1:50 to pull away with the win.

Naquin ends her career as the tenth all-time leading scorer in Belmont Abbey history with 1,266 career points. Jackson becomes just the 19th player in school history to reach the 1,000 point plateau, as her 1,007 points moves her into a tie for 18th with Nikki Herron.