Box Score

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The friendly confines of Eddie King Gym continue to benefit the University of Charleston women's basketball team as they set a school single game mark of 16 three-pointers in an 84-65 win over Cedarville, Wednesday evening.

The Yellow Jackets (6-1) entered the evening as a heavy favorite on paper after opening the year 6-0, but they faced a determined opponent who brought an offensive onslaught that few teams around have seen. The run and gun offense goes along with a tough pressure defense for first year UC (3-2) head coach Adam Collins, which continues to become more potent as the Golden Eagles see more and more action in executing the schemes.

CU grabbed the first points of the night on a three-point shot from leading scorer Kayla Jenerette forcing a quick run by the visitors that ending in their largest lead of the night at 9-4. Charleston refused to allow Cedarville to escape their grasp and used three-consecutive trips down the floor to erase the deficit. An impressive shooting night by transfer Jessi Cowden (Tomball, TX) ensued after her long-range shot at the 16:47 mark put the Golden Eagles ahead where they never would fall from again on the night.

Not only did the University of Charleston not relinquish the lead in the half the hot-hand from behind the arc quickly stretched the home advantage to double-digits. A LeAnne Ross (Marietta, OH) trey with 11:28 remaining in the opening stanza put UC ahead by 11, which quickly grew to 18 with 8:33 on the clock. The Golden Eagles cruised into the locker room at halftime withstanding two offensive runs by the Yellow Jackets.

Cowden, Ross and Kayla Dozier (Alpharetta, GA) buried three-point shots on consecutive possession only three minutes into the second half to set the tone for the rest of the game as Charleston's lead inched into the 20+ point range. UC kept the peddle down on the offense until a mid-range jumper by Chrissy Keir (Savreville, NJ) safely put the game out of reach at 84-57 with just over four minutes to play.

After the Keir bucket Charleston was content with running the duration off the shot clock with every possession allowing the game clock to dwindle Cedarville's comeback opportunities. CU scored the final eight points of the game to set the final tally at 84-65.

The University of Charleston shot 43 percent from the arc in hitting 16-of-37 attempts from downtown to break the school single-game record that stood at 14 coming into the night.

Cowden had a phenomenal performance with 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting that included 7-for-11 from three point land to lead all scorers in the game. Chrissy Keir ran the offense from the point with great efficiency leading to 14 points and eight assists, yet the key stat came from only two turnovers in 23 minutes of action. Ross and Ashley Milligan (Canal Winchester, OH) rounded out the double-digit performers with 14 and 10, respectively.

Tianni Kelly (Pickerington, OH) was the defensive enforcer accounting for five steals, three assists and 10 rebounds.

One feature that is becoming common for the Golden Eagles and continued on this night was 13 players saw action in the victory. The hard-nosed defense forced 22 turnovers by the Yellow Jackets, which led to holding the visitors to only 23 percent shooting in the second half that stopped any hope of crawling back in the game.

"I'm really proud of how the ladies came out and played tonight against a very good team. The responded from the loss at Shepherd with an intensity we need to try to hold on to for the rest of the season." said Collins. "Our point guards did a wonderful job tonight controlling the game and Cowden was just special tonight."

Charleston returns to the court at 4:00 pm on Saturday, Dec. 8 when they play host to WVIAC opponent Ohio Valley.