Belmont Abbey senior guard Courtney Naquin became the 18th player in school history, and the first in four years, to reach the 1,000 point plateau with a team-high 18 points as the Crusaders women's basketball team earned an 84-70 win at Limestone this evening in a Conference Carolinas matchup. The Abbey moves to 4-5 overall and 2-2 in Conference Carolinas, while Limestone falls to 4-5 overall and 1-3 in Conference Carolinas.

Naquin entered the game needing 17 points to reach 1,000 for her career as she and backcourt mate Ashley Giddens led five Crusaders in double figures with 18 points. Junior forward Shayla Jackson added 14 points, while Kelsey Daniel and Paula Regalado added 12 and ten, respectively. Regalado converted all four of her field goal attempts, and Jackson finished six of eight from the floor. Naquin was six for ten with a pair of rebounds as the Abbey shot a blistering 68 percent (30-44) from the field and held Limestone to a 46 percent effort.

Limestone was led by Ashley Robinson's game-high 19 points, one of three Lady Saints to reach double figures, while Lauren Pace added 14 and Maria Young contributed 13.

Belmont Abbey led 40-37 at the half behind a torrid 76 percent output shooting from the floor (16-21) as it led by as many as seven points. The Crusaders never relinquished the advantage in the second half, despite the Saints closing to within one on two occasions. After Limestone trimmed the Abbey cushion to 52-51 with 14:43 left, the Crusaders pushed the lead to seven at 69-62 with 7:33 remaining.

Just over a minute later, Daniel pushed the lead to nine, which started a game-closing run of 15-8 over the final 6:14 to pull away with the win.

Naquin reached the milestone with a jumper at the 4:14 mark in the second half, her 18th and final points of the game, to increase the Abbey's cushion to ten points. She is the Abbey's first 1,000 point scorer since Nicole Woods accomplished the feat during the 2005-06 season.