CENTRAL, S.C.— Leigha Dennison finished with a career-best 11 points and seven rebounds while Abigail Crain had her fourth double-double of the season as the No. 21 Belmont Abbey women's basketball team defeated Southern Wesleyan 73-47 Monday evening at Tysinger Gymnasium.
 
Crain finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds and added four assists. Peyton Nation finished with nine points and six rebounds with Cate Schieber adding nine points and four steals.
 
The Crusaders also used a strong effort defensively by accounting for a season-best 15 steals. Along with Schieber's totals, Madison Lusk and Valeria Batista each accounted for three. Dennison also had a pair of steals.
 
Riley James led the team with six assists and had four points.
 
Belmont Abbey improves to 15-2 overall and 9-0 in Conference Carolinas play. Southern Wesleyan drops to 5-12 overall and 2-8 in league play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Belmont Abbey opened the game on a 7-2 run with Leigha Dennison accounting for four of the seven points.
• Cate Schieber made a 3-pointer for Belmont Abbey's first field goal of the contest.
• The Warriors got back to within 14-9 but Belmont Abbey closed the quarter on an 11-2 run.
• Belmont Abbey led by as many as 22 points but an 8-0 run from SWU chipped away at the lead.
• Peyton Nation's layup with 1:18 remaining gave the Crusaders a 16-point lead at the break.
• The Crusaders extended the lead with a 22-point third quarter highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Cate Schieber and another from Madison Lusk.
• Belmont Abbey's largest lead in the contest was 32 points coming late in the fourth quarter.
• The Crusaders outrebounded the Warriors 48-26 in the contest.
• Reagan Iovino and Ivana Bijic both tallied their first points of the season in the win.   

 
SCORING TOTAL

• Crain moved up to 14th all-time in program history and now sits at 1,291 points, passing Kelsey Long (1,283) and Keyanna Spivey (1,291) in the process.

 
REGIONAL RANKING UPDATE

• Prior to Monday's contest, Belmont Abbey remained at No. 3 in the D2CSC Southeast Regional poll released earlier in the day.
• Additionally, the Crusaders did pick up a first-place vote and sit just two points behind top ranked North Georgia and No. 2 Coker.
• The updated national rankings are set to come out on Tuesday.

 
UP NEXT

• The Crusaders continue their busy stretch of games with a home contest against King.
• That game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. tip-off from the Wheeler Center.