SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Needing just two points to crack the 1,000 point mark, senior guard LeAnne Ross erupted for 23 in Charleston's 71-62 win at Shepherd Thursday evening in the Butcher Center.

Ross led all scorers with her 23 points, connecting on six of her 10 shot attempts from the field and canned four three-pointers.  Ross became the 34th woman in Golden Eagle history to eclipse the 1,000 point benchmark.  She also joined some exclusive company by knocking down her 200th career three-point field goal.  Only three other players in Charleston history have connected on 200 shots from behind the arc.

Monet Saunders continued her strong play by adding another double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling down 15 rebounds.  Ashley Milligan once again provided a spark from the Golden Eagle bench by chipping in 11 points and knocked down both of her three-point tries.

Shepherd was paced by Rachel Johnson who finished with 17 points for the Rams in the losing effort. 

In a game that was tight throughout, Charleston found themselves trailing the Rams 54-59 with 6:30 remaining in the contest.  The UC defense was stifling over that final stretch of the game, limiting Shepherd to just three points down the stretch.  Charleston went on to score 17 of the next 20 points to earn the nine point road win, 71-62.

The win puts Charleston at the top of the Mountain East Conference standings with a 10-3 conference record and 15-4 overall. 

UC returns to Eddie King Gymnasium Saturday to host preseason MEC favorite West Liberty with tip-off set for 2:00 p.m.  Charleston suffered their worst loss of the season at the hand of the Toppers back in November, coming up on the short end of a 22-point game, 65-87.