Belmont Abbey freshman forward Kala Nwachukwu led three Lady Crusaders in double figures with 18 points on 9-12 shooting from the floor as the Abbey women's basketball team improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in Conference Carolinas with a 67-52 win at St. Andrews Presbyterian this evening. The Lady Knights fall to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in Conference Carolinas.

The Abbey shot 41.7 percent (22-48) from the floor as Nwachukwu sank nine of her 12 field goal attempts, and pulled down five rebounds and handing out one assist. Junior guard Courtney Naquin added ten points on 1-7 shooting from the floor, but sank six of her eight free throw attempts. She tied for the game high with seven rebounds while handing out four assists. Shayla Jackson added ten points on 4-6 shooting from the field. She also had five rebounds, three steals and an assist.

Up 35-29 at the half, the Abbey outscored the Lady Knights 32-23 in the second half as it opened the stanza with a 15-5 run through the first ten minutes to grab its biggest lead of the game at 16 points. During the run, the Lady Crusaders allowed just two St. Andrews Presbyterian field goals while forcing five turnovers.

The Abbey enjoyed a double digit lead for the remainder of the contest as its advantage never dipped below 11 points, and held the Lady Knights to just three field goals in the final 3:53 of the contest.