Box Score
SAVANNAH, Ga.- Jade Hughes led four College of Charleston players in double figures with 14 points as the Cougars defeated Savannah State 61-54 in Tiger Arena.
Ericka Williams and Brooke Kotcella added 11 points each while Deidra Jones had 10.
The Cougars (13-5) raced out to a 14-2 lead thanks to consecutive 3-pointers by Hughes.
Savannah State was able to battle back and cut their deficit to five with a 10-3 surge with 11:35 remaining in the half.
The Cougars relied on outside shooting to put together a 12-5 rally to run their lead to 29-17 with 6:16 on the clock.
SSU closed the half with a 11-2 run and went into the locker room trailing 31-28 as
Crissa Jackson buried a jumper at the buzzer.
The crowd of 469 saw the Lady Tigers opened the second half with seven straight points to take a 35-31 advantage with 17:02 left in the contest.
Trailing 40-39, the Cougars reeled off 13 unanswered points to take a 52-40 lead with 5:52 remaining.
SSU would put together a 12-5 spurt to make it 57-52 with 24 seconds left.
The teams ended the game by trading free throws with Hughes making four for the Cougars and Jackson making two for SSU.
SSU (3-15) dropped their sixth straight game.
Milan Johnson scored 11 of her team-high 14 points for SSU in the first half. Lashara Smith added 10 points for SSU.
The Cougars shot 50 percent from the floor in the opening half but dipped to 9-for-23 after halftime. SSU ended the game shooting 40 percent from the field.
College of Charleston, who made 24 turnovers, beat SSU on the boards 35 to 28.
