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March 4, 2009

PBC Tournament - Columbus State Escapes Augusta State 82-79

AIKEN, S.C. - Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year Phebe Smith scored a game-high 35 points to lead seventh-seeded Columbus State University to an opening round 82-79 win over tenth-seeded Augusta State University, Wednesday afternoon (March 4) in the 2009 PBC Women’s Basketball Tournament in Aiken, S.C.

Columbus State (18-13) advances to face second-seeded Clayton State University in a quarterfinal game on Thursday at 5 p.m. Augusta state, which has dropped nine of its last ten opening tournament games, ends its season at 5-23.

The first half went back-and-forth with five lead changes. ASU shot 44.4 percent from three-point range to keep the game tight as junior guard Eboni Davis was a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. Davis finished with seven three-pointers to tie a PBC single game tournament record. Augusta State held a 37-36 advantage at the break.

The second half saw big runs by both sides. ASU scored nine of the first 13 points of the second half to lead 46-40 at the 17:04 mark. The Lady Cougars answered with a 26-9 run over the next 10 minutes to take a 66-55 lead with 7:20 left in the contest. ASU answered with a 16-5 run to tie the game at 71 with 3:40 remaining. The Lady Jaguars had two chances to tie the game in the final 20 seconds but were unable to score. Columbus State’s Nikki Urbizo threw the ball away with under 30 seconds to play, but then stole the subsequent inbounds pass and scored to provide the winning margin.

Smith connected on 13-of-24 shots and 9-of-15 from the free throw line to finish two points shy of the PBC Tournament single game scoring record of 37 set by former CSU standout Que Gulliam in 1997. Smith also grabbed eight rebounds while Urbizo scored 10 points to join Smith in double figures. Hali Moore pulled down 12 rebounds. Columbus State shot only 36% from the field but 23 of their 44 rebounds were on the offensive glass.

Junior guard Eboni Davis led Augusta State with a career-high 23 points, while Porsha White and Stacey Lampkin tallied double-doubles; White with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Lampkin scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Jasmine Godwin scored 20 points. The Lady Jaguars hit 49% from the field (27-55) and 42% of their three-pointers, but committed 24 turnovers to Columbus State’s 12.

Boxscore

PBC Tournament Quotes – Game 2 – Columbus State vs. Augusta State

Augusta State head coach Tes Sobomehin:
"We played hard and executed a lot of our game plan very well. Foul trouble with key players hurt us a little, and the rebounding was up and down. We left everything on the floor, just came up short."

"There's not a way to contain or stop Phoebe Smith. We attempted to throw a lot of defensive looks at them, but she was doing it all. We tried to double her, play behind her, but she showed she could score in any kind of situation."

"We did a great job of coming back after being down by 10 points. The opportunity was there."

"We had our share of close games and a lot where we got out-played. We have a lot of things we have to fine-tune, and a lot of that will be in the offseason. At the point, that starts with me."

Augusta State's Brittany Jarrard:
"It's a big adjustment to go from an older coach to a newer coach. We haven't adjusted well at all like we should have."

Columbus State head coach Jay Sparks:
"Play-in games are tough for so many different reasons. You hope that you persevere, and we did. We need to be happy that we won and move on to tomorrow."

"We made plays when we needed to make a play. Good teams make plays when they needed to make plays. One of the neat things about this game for us is different players made plays and we didn't have to rely on one person."

"I'm tickled to be where we are. It's about making a play in a tough situation. Making an offensive rebound on a free throw gives you another chance."