Belmont Abbey junior forward Paula Regalado led three Crusaders in double figures with 18 points as eight of nine players scored points in an easy 80-37 win over the visiting Converse Valkyries this evening at the Wheeler Center. The Abbey, winners of five of its last six, moves to 7-8 overall and 6-3 in Conference Carolinas, while Converse drops to 3-14 overall and 3-7 in Conference Carolinas.

The Crusaders never trailed as they opened the contest on a 19-2 run over the first six minutes and never looked back. Up 24-7 with 10:19 to go in the first, the Abbey outscored Converse 23-9 over the final ten minutes to build a 47-16 halftime lead.

Belmont Abbey shot 42.1 percent (16-38) in the opening stanza as Regalado and Melisa Foures scored 12 and 11 points, respectively. Foures added four rebounds and four assists. Jena Cabe added nine points.

Converse shot just 28.6 percent (6-21) from the field and was undone by 19 first half turnovers.

The second half saw the Abbey continue its dominance, shooting 39.4 percent and holding Converse to just eight field goals in 34 attempts (23.5 percent). The lead grew to as high as 47 points on a traditional three-point play by Autumn Smith-Faulkner to make the score 80-33 with 44 seconds left.

Regalado led all scorers with 18 points, 12 in the first half, on six of seven shooting from the field and six of ten from the free throw line.

She tied for the game-high with nine rebounds. She also had three assists. Foures added 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in 29 minutes. She sank five of her 11 field goal attempts and four of seven from beyond the arc. Senior forward Shayla Jackson added 16 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals in just 27 minutes. The Abbey outrebounded Converse 50-38, including 18-10 on the offensive glass. Converse had no offensive rebounds in the first half.

Converse was led by Jasmine Simmons and Morgan Sacharski, who both finished with nine points. Simmons's seven rebounds were a team-high.