HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Carey overcame a sluggish offensive performance to claim a 55–51 win over Dillard University on Tuesday night at Clinton Gym.
 
An opening three-pointer by Jenna Garriga started the scoring for WCU, and after four minutes had passed, a jumper from Shaneal Corpuz put Carey up 8–4. The Lady Crusaders extended their lead to five with under three minutes to play before taking an 18–15 advantage into the second quarter.
 
Both offenses struggled early in the second, but a three-pointer by Garriga followed by a layup from Corpuz gave WCU its largest lead of the night at 28–19 with five minutes remaining. The teams traded baskets down the stretch, with Dillard scoring the final bucket to trim the deficit to 32–28 at halftime.
 
Carey came out of the break with back-to-back baskets from Leah Sutton and Madelyn Ladner, pushing the lead to 42–30 midway through the third. But just as quickly as WCU heated up, the offense went cold, going scoreless the rest of the quarter while the Bleu Devils chipped away to make it 42–38 headed to the fourth.
 
The drought continued until a layup by Corpuz with eight minutes remaining finally got Carey back on the board. Addyson Sherer followed with a basket to stretch the lead to 46–40, but Dillard responded with eight unanswered points over the next two minutes to take its first lead of the game.
 
A pair of free throws by Sherer tied things up with five minutes to play, and over the next four minutes the teams traded baskets, with WCU clinging to a 52–51 lead. Carey iced the game from there, sinking 3 of 4 free throws while the defense forced two turnovers and held the Blue Devils scoreless from the field.
 
Corpuz led the offense with 16 points, while Sutton added nine points and nine rebounds.
 
Carey is back in action as they head across town to take on Southern Miss in an exhibition contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at Reed Green Coliseum.