COLUMBUS, Ga. | The No. 10-ranked Columbus State University women's basketball team defeated Young Harris College 82-53 in a Peach Belt Conference game Saturday (Feb. 4) afternoon at the Lumpkin Center.

The Cougars improved to 19-1 overall and to 13-1 in the Peach Belt, while the Mountain Lions fell to 8-12 and 4-9. Young Harris returns to action Monday (Feb. 6) when they host the University of Montevallo in a 5:30 p.m. PBC contest at the YHC Basketball Arena.

The Cougars, which led 32-19 at the half, broke the game wide open in the third quarter as Columbus State outscored Young Harris 31-12 to open up a 63-31 lead after 30 minutes. The Mountain Lions only made two field goals in the third quarter and the Cougars turned 13 YHC turnovers into 19 points.

"It's hard to play with one point guard against a team that has as much depth as Columbus State," said YHC head coach Matt Stearsman. "They wore us down in the third quarter. They've done that to just about everyone. That is a very good team. If you take the score away we had some bright spots, we outrebounded them and made our free throws. We have a huge game Monday that we need to get."

Meredith Tarver led Young Harris with 18 points while Briana Bell added 16. Jenny Vernet scored eight points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds as the Mountain Lions held a 38-33 lead on the glass.

Britteny Tatum led the Cougars with 15 points, while Ashley Asouzu (12) and Alexis Carter (11) finished in double figures,