Belmont Abbey sophomores Melisa Foures and Kelsey Long led all scorers with 15 points apiece as the Crusaders women's basketball team earned its first win of the year with a 60-50 win at Livingstone this afternoon. The Abbey is now 1-1 while Livingstone drops to 1-2.

The Crusaders shot 33 percent (18-54) from the field and 33 percent (6-18) from three-point range. Foures accumulated her 15 points by shooting three of eight from the field, going two for three from behind the arc, and making seven of nine free throws. She also added seven steals. Long's 15 points came on six of 13 shooting, and a two for four effort from the free throw line.

Caitlyn Ranson led the Abbey with nine rebounds and contributed eight points, falling only two points and one rebound short of a double double. Candace Fox led the Crusaders with four assists and also scored seven points on the night. Alyx Ingram also contributed eight points and eight rebounds.

Belmont Abbey never trailed after being down 2-0 and built its lead to as high as eight points at 19-11 with 5:29 to go in the first half. Livingstone melted the lead down to three on a 6-1 run, but a jumper by Ingram at the buzzer pushed the lead to five at 22-17 at the half.

The Crusaders shot 44 percent in the second half and held the Bears to a 31 percent output as they outscored Livingstone 38-33 in the final 20 minutes. Leading by only five with 8:39 to go, the Abbey embarked on an 8-0 run, fueled by two free throws from Ingram, a three-pointer from Ranson and capped off with a layup by Long to extend the lead to its highest of the game, 13 points, at 50-37 with 5:14 to go.

Livingstone could only close to within seven points, and was held to just one point in the final 2:09 as the Abbey scored four of the last five points to seal the ten point win.