BLUEFIELD-The Bluefield State women's basketball team lost their third home game to Belmont Abbey at Ned E. Shott Gym Thursday evening, 84-66. The Big Blue drop to 0-3, while the Crusader's improve to 3-1.

Thursday evening, Bluefield State fell behind early to Belmont Abbey. At the end of the first quarter, the Crusaders went up 21-12. The Big Blue didn't quite cut the Crusader's lead at the half, but they managed to cut the total number of rebounds, 19-18.

Bluefield State's Eden Billups-Campell worked the lane the entire night. Billups-Campell led the Big Blue in points, 18. Followed by Freshman London Coleman with 14 points. Jia Coppola led the team in total rebounds, mainly on the defensive side. Racking up a total of 9, 7 of those being defensive. Dani Janutolo wasn't too far behind with 7 total rebounds, 5 of those being defensive.

 Although Belmont Abbey's Brittany Autry managed to score 19 points, the Bluefield State defense created a total of 17 turnovers while only having 12 of their own.

Up Next...

The season will continue Saturday, January 9 with the second road game of the season at Belmont Abbey College. The Big Blue will face the Crusaders at Wheeler Center at 4 p.m.

Bluefield State Head Coach Ryan Bailey

Thoughts on today's game...

"Our girls showed up tonight and showed that they can play with some of the top teams that are out there. That's the top 25 team in the country right there and we played with them."