CHARLESTON, S.C. – Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) scored 22 points, while Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C.) posted her fifth career double-double, to lead the College of Charleston women’s basketball team to the 68-55 win over Clemson in action in front of 957 fans at the Carolina First Arena.  The win is the first over the Tigers since a 72-63 decision in the 1978-79 season.

The Cougars, who earned their first win over an Atlantic Coast Conference school in Division I history, improved to 1-1, while the Tigers fell to 1-1.

Tied at 38-28 with 13:48 remaining in the second half, Charleston used a 20-3 run over the next nine minutes, capped by four straight points from Gerty who had nine during the stretch, to take the largest lead of the game of 17 at 58-41 with 4:55 remaining.  A 12-3 run by the Tigers cut the margin to eight at 61-53 with 1:38 remaining but the Cougars connected on seven of eight free-throws to keep the game out of reach and secure the 68-55 win.

The first-half was a defensive battle, with neither team dominant in shooting as the Cougars held the field goal percentage edge 32.3 to 29.0.  Neither team could pull away and with the Tigers leading by two, 26-24 with seven seconds to play, Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.) nailed a jumper to tie the game up for the fifth time in the half at 26-26.

Gerty’s team-leading 22 points on the night was just one shy from tying her career-high.  Jones followed with 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Hughes posted 12 points on the night to become the 23^rd player in CofC history to reach 1,000 career-points.  She now has 1,004 points through 89 games.

The Tigers were led by Keyrra Gillespie with 13 points.  Lele Hardy followed with 12 points and 12 rebounds for her second double-double in as many games. 

Charleston held the 46-43 edge in rebounding and had one fewer turnover, 22-21.  The Cougars shot 40.4 percent from the field, compared to 31.7 for the Tigers.  Clemson was 11-of-23 from the free throw line compared to 18-of-28 for the Cougars, a career-high 10 of them coming from Gerty.

In a game that saw the lead change five times, the Cougars controlled points in the paint, 30-24 and points off turnovers, 18-10.

Charleston faces Mercer Friday, Nov. 20^th at Charleston Southern in North Charleston, S.C at the Charleston Southern Classic.  Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.