Trailing 41-24 at halftime, the Belmont Abbey women's basketball team outscored Barton 42-37 in the second half, but could never take the lead as the Lady Bulldogs earned a 78-66 win this evening in Wilson. Barton moves to 8-5 overall and 7-1 in Conference Carolinas, while the Abbey drops to 6-7 overall and 4-4 in Conference Carolinas.

Belmont Abbey shot 28 percent in the first half, but 56 percent in the second half as it shot 43 percent for the contest. Junior forward Shayla Jackson led four Crusaders in double figures with 16 points on seven of 15 shooting, while senior guard Kelsey Daniel added 14 points on six of nine shooting with nine rebounds, three assists and a steal. Senior guard Courtney Naquin added 11 points and four assists, while Ashley Giddens chipped in with ten points and four assists.

Barton's Jamila Johnson led all scorers with 21 points and six assists, while Destiny Hamlin and Esty Flores added 14 and 13 points, respectively. The Lady Bulldogs shot 43 percent from the floor.

Barton opened the game on a 15-4 run over the first 4:12 before five straight Abbey points trimmed the lead to five. Those five points came three free throws from Paula Regalado and a layup by Daniel. Barton answered by scoring the next six straight points to move its lead back to 11, and again the Abbey responded with a run to cut the lead back down to five, but Barton ended the half on an 18-6 run in the final 6:56 to take a 17 point lead into the half.

The Barton advantage remained in double figures for a majority of the final stanza, as the Abbey would cut the lead to as few as 13 in the early portions of the half. The Abbey made one final charge to reduce the lead down to eight after trailing 70-54 with 5:06 left by racing out on a 10-2 run, which started with a traditional three-point play by Jackson, who scored the first five points in the run with a traditional three point play and a layup one minute later. After a Robinson layup, Naquin buried a three-pointer and Jackson punctuated the flurry with a runner to trim the lead to eight, 72-64 with 2:03 left.

Barton closed the game by scoring six points and holding the Abbey to a pair of free throws in the final 1:28 to pull away with the win.