HUBERT SHINES BRIGHT IN LADY COUGARS' WIN OVER COLUMBIA STATE
CLEVELAND – Cleveland State easily rolled past Columbia State in Friday’s conference game at L. Quentin Lane Gymnasium. Lady Cougars head coach Dan Lumpkin credited freshman forward Abby Hubert’s performance with energizing the squad in their dominating 59-43 win over the Lady Chargers. Hubert racked up 22 points in the game, which included two treys.
CLEVELAND – Cleveland State easily rolled past Columbia State in Friday's conference game at L. Quentin Lane Gymnasium.
Lady Cougars head coach Dan Lumpkin credited freshman forward Abby Hubert's performance with energizing the squad in their dominating 59-43 win over the Lady Chargers. Hubert racked up 22 points in the game, which included two treys.
"She played with energy – when she plays hard like that, good things happen," Lumpkin commented. "On the road at Roane State that's how she played and she really inspired everyone around her to come out and play hard in a tough game. We've got to have play like that every night, it really makes the team play better when she plays aggressive."
Leisa Butler was Cleveland State's other double-digit scorer, picking up 14 points of her own.
The Lady Cougars (11-7, 5-5) started off the night on a strong note and had a 10 point, 16-6 lead over the Lady Chargers (5-17, 1-9) after the first quarter.
Columbia State put up a fight early in the second quarter and held Cleveland State off the board for a little over four minutes. The Lady Chargers' six-point run was ended by a 3-pointer from Hubert. That 3-pointer spurred the Lady Cougars on to a 16-point run, which was broken up four minutes later.
Cleveland State took a 36-15 lead over Columbia State into the halftime. Of the Lady Cougar's 36 points, Hubert accounted for 14.
The Lady Cougars all but snuffed out the Lady Chargers' offense in the third quarter, allowing them just six points. While the visitors were struggling offensively, the home team put up 11 more points to take a 47-21 lead into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter proved to have a bit more action in it. A strong showing from behind the arc helped Columbia State net 20 points in the final quarter, while the Lady Cougars were held to 12 points.
The Lady Chargers leading scorer was McKenzie Haislip with 14 points.
Lumpkin admitted that his team did not necessarily do as good of a job "taking care of the ball" as he had hoped they would following their loss to Walters State on Jan. 21.
"The team we played last week is better so it's hard to judge that because we still turned it over far too many times without the pressure that we saw last Saturday. We shouldn't have had half of those turnovers," Lumpkin said.
The Lady Cougars return to the court at 2 p.m. Saturday, when they host Jackson State. The game will also serve to honor the 2016-17 Hall of Fame inductees.
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