HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Triple overtime was not needed this time, as the Lady Crusaders took care of business, defeating Blue Mountain Christian 67-49 in SSAC action Thursday night at Clinton Gym.
 
Things started out with both teams trading shots. With four minutes gone in the first quarter though, the Lady Toppers scored five unanswered points to take a 13-7 lead. From there, both teams again traded shots, but WCU closed the quarter on a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 17-15.
 
After a couple of missed opportunities by both teams to start the second quarter, a layup by Shaneal Corpuz tied the game at 17 and the back and forth continued from there. Over the next three minutes neither team led by more than two points until Gabrielle Gallup drained a three pointer from the corner and Kolten Blakeney followed with a jumper in the paint to give WCU a 28-23 lead with four minutes left.
 
The Lady Toppers answered with a three of their own to make it a two-point game, but Corpuz and Blakeney combined for six straight points to close the quarter to send Carey into the break leading 34-26.
 
Corpuz again opened the scoring coming out the break to make it a ten-point advantage for WCU. The rest of quarter saw Blue Mountain continuing to battle, cutting the deficit to five on multiple occasions but each time the Lady Crusaders answered eventually taking a 46-38 lead into the final quarter of play.
 
The final ten minutes of the game saw Carey pull away good, outscoring BMCU 21-10 in the quarter while shooting over 61% from the floor with the defense holding the Lady Toppers to just over 28%.
 
Kolten Blakeney led the way with 19 points and nine rebounds with Shaneal Corpuz finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds. Rose Warren added 14 points while picking up seven assists while Madelyn Ladner had 11 points.
 
The Lady Crusaders are back in action Saturday, January 4, as they take on Loyola University in conference action. Play is set to begin at 12:00 pm at Clinton Gym.