Courtney Naquin led all scorers with 17 points, Ashley Giddens added 16 and Shayla Jackson registered a double double with ten points and ten rebounds as the Belmont Abbey women's basketball team earned its fifth-straight win with a 67-49 triumph at Converse this evening. The Abbey, which has won 12 of its last 14 games, moves to 16-8 overall and 14-5 in Conference Carolinas, while Converse drops to 4-19 overall and 4-14 in Conference Carolinas.

Belmont Abbey shot 37 percent from the field as Naquin recorded game-highs with 17 points and five assists. Giddens added 16 points, four rebounds and one assist, while Jackson chipped in with ten points, ten rebounds, three steals and three assists.

Converse shot 29 percent as Ashley Arff led the Valkyries with ten points and two steals.

The Abbey never trailed in the contest as it built its first half lead to as high as 11 points at 21-10 with 9:27 on the clock. Converse chopped the lead down to two after it went on a 14-2 run to close the gap to 26-24 with 3:27 left, but the Abbey held the Valkyries scoreless in the final 3:26 of the half as it scored the final 11 points of the stanza to take a 37-24 halftime lead.

Belmont Abbey scored the first six points of the second half to extend its lead to 18 points, but a Converse run trimmed the cushion to ten at 44-34 with 10:43 left. The Crusaders countered with a 16-3 run over the next 4:13 to widen their lead to the largest of the contest, 23 points at 60-37 with 5:36 showing. From there, Converse did not cut the lead to fewer than 17 points as the Abbey earned the win.