SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The Belmont Abbey women's basketball team used a pair of defensive stops in the final 20 seconds to defeat Converse 54-51 Wednesday evening at Tom and Tracy Hannah Gym.
 
Leading by 1 with just over 20 seconds left, Riley James forced one of her four steals on the night and made a pair of free throws on the other end of the court. The Crusaders partially blocked a potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer to hold on for the win. The victory extended the Crusaders' winning streak to 10 games.
 
Peyton Nation finished with 20 points, one shy of her career-high to go with seven rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. Abigail Crain added 13 points to finish in double figures as well for the Abbey.
 
Belmont Abbey is now 12-2 overall and 6-0 in Conference Carolinas play and 2-0 in Northwest Division play. Converse is 3-10 overall, 1-5 in the league and 1-1 in the division.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Crain made two of the first three field goals of the quarter for the Crusaders as they were locked in a defensive battle early.
• Valeria Batista accounted for five points in the opening quarter for the Abbey.
• Nation made three field goals in the second quarter but it was the Valkyries who held a 25-22 lead at halftime.
• The Crusaders trailed by as many as five points in the third quarter but a 7-2 run helped the team tie the game back up at 36-all. Converse led by two entering the final 10 minutes.
• With the Abbey trailing by four early in the fourth quarter, the Crusaders rallied to take their first lead of the second half with 6:56 remaining thanks to a made jumper from James.
• After Converse tied the game two separate times, Belmont Abbey took the lead for good with 4:17 remaining thanks to a three-point play from Leigha Dennison.
• Nation added a layup with 1:41 remaining to give the Abbey a five-point lead, its largest of the game.
• Converse got back within one but the two defensive stops plus the two free throws from James proved to be enough for the win.
• Belmont Abbey finished with 12 steals for the game. It is the fourth straight time that the Crusaders have recorded double-digit steals this season.
• Crain moved up to 17th all-time in program history scoring as she now has 1,243 career points. She passes Brittany Autry, who finished with 1,236 in her time at Belmont Abbey.
• There were eight ties and 10 lead changes in the contest.  
• It is the third straight year under Kim Lusk that Belmont Abbey has had winning streaks of 10 or more during the season. The Crusaders won 12 in a row last season and 15 straight in the season prior to that.

 
UP NEXT

• Belmont Abbey returns home to face Emmanuel at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Wheeler Center.
• Check back to abbeyathletics.com for more information on potential schedule changes.