PEMBROKE - Attempting to hand Columbus State its second home loss in a season since 2013-14 and its fifth home setback overall since then, the UNC Pembroke women's basketball squad was tied 44-44 with 5:47 to play in the fourth quarter Saturday at the Frank G. Lumpkin Center, but the hosts ended the game on a 20-7 run thanks to a 14-for-17 clip at the charity stripe in the final five minutes to turn away the Braves' Peach Belt Conference (PBC) upset bid. 

GAME INFORMATION
Score: UNC Pembroke 51, Columbus State 64
Records: UNC Pembroke (4-8, 2-6 PBC); Columbus State (8-4, 6-2 PBC)
Location: Frank G. Lumpkin Center
Series: Columbus State leads 31-6

HOW IT HAPPENED
Box Score/Play-by-Play

FIRST QUARTER
-The Cougars took a six-point lead on a free-throw with 6:32 to play to give them their largest lead of the first quarter.
-Both sides went on a scoring draught beginning at the 6:32 mark until UNCP's Aliyah Farmer hit a freebie with 2:16 to play in the period.
-Nyla Allen knocked down a pair of free throws with 29 seconds to play to cut the Braves' deficit to four at 12-8 after one.

SECOND QUARTER
-Columbus State led by as many as 10 with under seven to play in the second quarter, but UNCP used a 7-0 run over the next 2:12 to trim the disparity to just three at 18-15.
-The hosts scored nine of the final 13 points of the stanza to haul a 27-19 lead into the locker rooms.

THIRD QUARTER
-The Braves clawed back in the game by outscoring Columbus State 19-11 in the third quarter to pull even at 38-38 after three periods of action.
-The Cougars went nearly 10 minutes without a made field goal from the 1:05 mark of the second quarter until 1:39 left to play in the third. They were 0-for-12 from the field in that span with four turnovers, but went 7-of-10 from the free throw line.

FOURTH QUARTER
-Columbus State made 19 trips to the charity stripe in the fourth quarter, including 17 attempts in the final 4:17 of the game to pull away from the Braves and outscore UNCP 26-13 in the final frame.
-The sides were knotted at 44-44 with 5:47 to play, but a 16-5 Cougar run handed the hosts a 60-49 lead with 51 seconds to play.

NOTABLES
-Senior Nyla Allen turned in her best shooting performance of the season, tallying a game-best 16 points on a 5-for-6 success rate from the field before fouling out in a tie game with 4:17 remaining.
-The Braves also got 10 points from both Avery Locklear and Brandi Robinson in the contest. It was the second-straight game that Robinson has logged a double-digit point total – the first time in her UNCP career that the senior has accomplished that task.
-Columbus State scored 20 points off of 19 turnovers by the Black & Gold. Conversely, the Braves recorded just seven points off of 21 turnovers by the Cougars. In two matchups with CSU this season, UNCP managed just 31 points off of 52 turnovers by the Cougars.
-UNCP has now dropped seven-straight games in the series with the Cougars. That stretch includes four-straight setbacks in the Frank G. Lumpkin Center. The Braves also fell to 1-18 on the road in the series as well.
-A total of 51 fouls were called in the contest, leading to a combined 63 attempts from the free throw line. The Cougars shot 75 percent (30-for-40) from the charity stripe, while the Braves finished 16-of-23 (69.6 percent) from the line.

UP NEXT
The Braves play the second game of their current three-game road trip with a tilt at Georgia Southwestern on Monday afternoon. Tipoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. on the front end of a women's-men's doubleheader at the Storm Dorm in Americus. The Hurricanes (4-8, 1-7 PBC) lost their seventh-straight game overall on Saturday in a 66-59 home setback to Francis Marion. UNCP knocked off Georgia Southwestern by a 71-60 score in Pembroke earlier this season for one of its two league victories. The Black & Gold leads the all-time series 9-5 over the Hurricanes, but is just 3-4 all-time inside the Storm Dome. The Braves' last win in Americus came on Jan. 29, 2012.