Leading just 35-31 at the half, the Belmont Abbey women's basketball team outscored Lees-McRae 26-16 in the final 20 minutes to pull away and claim a crucial 61-47 win over the Lady Bobcats this evening at the Wheeler Center. The win snaps a five game losing streak as the Crusaders improve to 12-13 overall and 11-8 in Conference Carolinas. Lees-McRae drops to 6-17 overall and 6-12 in Conference Carolinas. Belmont Abbey remains in fifth place in the conference standings, one game out of fourth. The top four teams host at least the first round of the Conference Carolinas tournament.

Shayla Jackson poured in a game-high 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting for Belmont Abbey, while Melisa Foures added her first career double-double with 15 markers and a contest-best 10 rebounds. Kelsey Long chipped in 10 points of her own, as Candace Fox posted game-highs of seven assists and five steals. 21 of the Abbey's 23 field goals were assisted.

Lees-McRae opened the game strong, taking an early 4-0 lead before Belmont Abbey responded, countering with an 18-6 run to take an 18-10 advantage on a Jackson jumper at the 12:24 mark. The Bobcats began to claw back over the next eight minutes, answering with a 14-8 spurt to trim the margin to 26-24 on a layup by Erin Thompson with 5:44 left in the half.

After the Bobcats cut the lead to 28-27 on a Thurau triple, Belmont Abbey then closed out the half with a 7-4 run to take a 35-31 advantage into the intermission. The Abbey carried the momentum into the second half, opening the period on an 11-4 run to push the margin to 46-34 on a Fox layup with 15:01 to play. Lees-McRae missed its first four shots to open the second half and did not score until the 15:57 mark.

Whitaker answered with a triple to cut the lead to 46-37 at the 14:11 mark before Belmont Abbey regained control, launching a 7-2 run to push the advantage to 53-39 on a Fox three-pointer with 9:27 to play. The Abbey would maintain the double-digit advantage from there, closing out the win with a 5-2 spurt to equal the final margin of 61-47.

The Crusaders shot 39 percent (23-59) from the field and sank 12 of 16 free throws. Lees-McRae shot 35.7 percent (20-56) and was just two of five from the free throw line.

Jackson's 16 points moves her into sixth place on the school's all-time scoring list. She now has scored 1,403 points in her career, 11 away from fifth place.