[Belmont, NC] - Belmont Abbey may have forced their tempo on Shaw's women's basketball team, but the Lady Bears played smothering defense, shutting down the Crusaders to win their season opener 55-49. 

The two teams played evenly for almost the entire game.  In the end, it came down to two three-point plays for Shaw - one a three-point shot by Brittany Ransom and the other an old-fashioned bucket and a free throw from Aslea Williams - that made the difference as Shaw went from two points down to a four-point advantage.

The tempo was anything but the "Full Throttle" offense Shaw expected to play this season.  Belmont Abbey forced Shaw into a slower half-court offense that kept points to a minimum.

"They forced us into their style of play," said Shaw head coach Jacques Curtis.  "We knew that would be our challenge coming in.  It was a good win for us, given that we're four people down.  We won without playing the kind of game we wanted."

The Bears struggled from the free throw line, as well, hitting only 11 of 24 of their attempts.

"We would have had a much easier time of it if we could have hit those free throws," said Curtis.  "Between that and the first half turnovers, we hurt ourselves.  But our goal was to limit them to 52 points, so our defense beat that goal."

The Shaw defense held the Crusaders to only 49 points forcing them into off-balance shots.  Belmont Abbey hit only 32.2 percent of their shots, and only took 59.  The Bears were held to only 53 shots, but made 21 for a 39.6 percent.

Midway through the first half, the score was more reminiscent of a softball game than basketball.  With 11:08 left in the half, Ransom drove the lane for a layup that made the score 12-5.  Three minutes later, Shemieka Brown hit a jumper on the right wing to score the Bears' next bucket, and stopping a Belmont Abbey scoring run.  Brown's bucket gave the Lady Bears a 14-9 lead.

Williams hit a layup to give the Lady Bears a 20-9 lead with 6:30 left in the half, but the Crusaders found their offense and scored ten straight to cut the Shaw lead to one, 20-19.

Melisa Foures hit a jumper to give Belmont Abbey their first lead of the game, and later Caitlyn Ranson hit a three to extend the Crusaders lead to four, 29-25.  Victoria Tanner collected two free throws to close out the scoring for the Lady Bears in the first.  Shaw headed to the locker room down two, 27-29.

For all but a minute in the second half, the two teams exchanged buckets evenly.  The Lady Bears would tie the game, only to see the Crusaders hit a bucket to extend their lead back to two.

With 9:32 left in the game, Brittney Spencer found Ransom on the left wing, where she launched a three that found the bottom of the net.   The bucket gave the Bears a one-point lead.  Twenty seconds later, after a Belmont Abbey turnover, Spencer hit Williams in the lane for a short jumper.  She was fouled and sank the free throw to give the Lady Bears a 43-39 lead.

With 1:27 left in the game, Victoria Tanner hit a jumper to give the Lady Bears an eight-point, 53-45 lead. The Crusaders would score two more buckets - to Shaw's one - to close out the game for a final 55-49 score.

Williams had a double-double for the Lady Bears with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  Tanner led Shaw with 11 rebounds.  Ransom collected ten points of her own, and Spencer finished the game with five assists - three of them in the critical stretch in the second half.

The loss dropped the Crusaders to 2-3 on the season.  Foures led Belmont Abbey with 17 points and 11 rebounds.  Kelsey Long led the Crusaders with three assists.

The Lady Bears continue their road trip with a game at Tusculum Monday night at 6:00 p.m.  They do not play at home until January 7 when they take on Virginia State.  Tip for that game is 2:00 p.m.

Photos:  Aslea Williams powers for a shot against Belmont Abbey (left) and Brittany Ransom goes up for a three against the Crusaders (right).