NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.? Ashton Barton scored 21 points becoming the 12 player in UNC Asheville history to score 1,000 points in her career but it was not enough as Charleston Southen defeated the Bulldogs 74-61 on Tuesday night.
Barton scored her 1,000th point on a free throw at the 12:59 mark of the second half. She went 6-for-13 from the floor, and 7-for-10 from the foul line for a game-high 21 points. She is now tied with Tara McMinn for 11th on Asheville's all-time scoring list with 1,013 career points.
“Ashton gave a gutsy effort tonight,” said Asheville head coach Betsy Blose. “I told her not to hang her head. She did everything she could to help us be successful, 1,000 points is a great accomplishment. I know she would rather have a victory but she played a great game tonight.”
Charleston Southern (7-14, 2-2 Big South) placed three players in double figure points led by Crystal Robinson who had 18 points off the bench. Pam Tolbert had 17 points and Tina Decarvalho added 10 points. The Lady Bucs shot 43.3 percent from the floor while the Bulldogs (10-10, 1-2 Big South) shot just 28.2 percent in the game.
Asheville began the game strong using a 7-2 run to take an 16-8 lead with 13:16 left in the first half. Then the shooting went south. The Dogs missed their next 11 shots over the next five minutes as CSU went on a 14-0 run to take a 22-16 lead at the 8:13 mark. The Dogs answered with an 11-5 spirt to tie the game at 27-27 with 2:55 left in the half. CSU went on a 9-2 spirt before Chioma Okoli scored at the first half buzzer to make the score 36-31 at halftime.
Charleston Southern began the second half with a 9-0 run as Asheville did not score for the first four minutes and 11 seconds of the half. Barton finally got the Dogs on the board with a lay-up in transition. Asheville pulled to within seven at 52-45 with 9:15 to play but that was as close as it would get. CSU answered with a 12-5 run to push the lead back to 14 points with 6:24 to play.
Barton went 5-for-8 for 16 points in the second half while the rest of the Bulldogs were 6-for-22 scoring just 14 points. Stacy Shepard had a game- high 13 rebounds but went 1-for-11 from the floor. Both teams had 45 rebounds in the game while CSU held a 34-14 advantage in points in the paint.
Asheville will travel to Radford on Saturday, Feb. 2, for a 3 p.m. game at the Dedmon Center. Charleston Southern will travel to High Point on Saturday.
