Belmont Abbey junior forward Paula Regalado led all scorers with 18 points and freshman Kelsey Long added 17, but the Crusaders women's basketball team suffered a 68-56 loss at Johnson C. Smith this evening in Brayboy Gym. The Lady Golden Bulls remain unbeaten at 6-0, while the Abbey falls to 1-5.

Regalado finished with 18 points, 16 in the second half, on four of nine shooting from the floor and a nearly perfect effort from the free throw line, sinking 10 of her 11 attempts. She also had three rebounds, two assists and a steal in just 26 minutes. Long added 17 points on six of nine shooting, including a five of seven effort from three-point range, to go along with two assists and a steal. The Abbey shot 44.7 percent (17-38) from the field and 70 percent (7-10) from three-point range. Long finished with five of those, and freshman Melisa Foures sank both of her three-point attempts.

Johnson C. Smith shot 40.7 percent (24-59) as Brittane Neely led the way with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Chante' Bell finished with ten points. LaQwesha Gamble led all players with 12 rebounds, seven on the offensive glass, as the Lady Golden Bulls corralled 40 on the night.

JCSU held the lead for most of the first half, and started to control the game after the 11:21mark when a Shayla Jackson layup broke an 11-11 tie to put the Abbey up by two. 11 seconds later, a jumper by Shakeena Cunningham started an 11-0 JCSU run that gave the Lady Golden Bulls a 22-13 cushion with 7:50 left.

After a three-pointer by Long sliced the lead to six, Johnson C. Smith scored the next four points to build its lead to ten points at 26-16 with 5:56 to play, but the Abbey fought back by scoring the next 11 points, as Regalado sank a jumper, followed by two three-pointers from Long and another from Foures that gave the Crusaders a 27-26 lead with 2:40 left. JCSU responded by scoring the final five points of the half to take a 31-28 lead into the break.

The Lady Golden Bulls pulled away in the second half, building its lead to as high as 21 points at 60-39 with 6:24 left. The Crusaders would pull the lead down to as few as ten points at 65-55 with 2:16 to play, but JCSU pulled away to win by 12.