CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern was unable to overcome an early deficit as Winthrop pulled away from the Buccaneers late on Saturday afternoon inside the Buc Dome as CSU fell to the visiting Eagles, 79-50.

The Bucs used an 8-0 run spanning the end of the first half and beginning of the second half to battle their way back into the game behind seven second half points from Tatum Jarvis. Winthrop however used a combined 26 points from Schaquilla Nunn and Samiya Wright in the second half to top the Bucs for the sixth straight time in pulling away with the win.

CSU falls to 3-8, 0-3 in Big South Conference play following their first action of the New Year. Winthrop improves to 7-5, 3-0 in conference action with the win.

Jarvis led the Bucs with a team-high 17 points as the CSU sophomore connected on three three-pointers and 7-of-14 from the floor. Alecia Hardy added eight points off the bench for the Bucs as CSU's reserves outscored the Eagles bench 34-13 in the contest. Alyssa Mann was also in double-digits for CSU with 10 points in the loss.

Williams led all players with 19 points and 11 rebounds from the floor, hitting all eight of her field goal attempts in the game. She added eight assists and two steals to pace the Eagles. Nunn finished with 19 points and three blocked shots, while Wright connected on four three-pointers on her way to an 18 point game.

Wright started the action early with a three-pointer on the opening Winthrop possession as the Eagles held the Bucs scoreless from the floor for the first 7:43 of the game in building a 19-5 lead. Mann connected on three free throw attempts and Natasha Lebedeva converted both of her early attempts from the line before Hardy broke the seal on the net at the 12:17 mark with a layup.

The Hardy basket jumpstarted the CSU offense as the Bucs fought their way back into the contest with a 13-4 run with Hardy scoring six straight and Jarvis adding five during the stretch to put the score at 25-18 with 9:43 to play. The Eagles reestablished their double-digit lead following back to back shots in the paint from Nuba Jackson as the Winthrop lead reached as many as 19 points with 1:26 remaining following the CiiCii Buford jumper.

Christal Barnett connected on a free throw attempt and Jarvis drilled her second three-pointer of the game before a steal and layup by Hardy sent the teams into the locker room with CSU trailing 41-28.

The Bucs continued their run at the start of the second half as Monique Maximilien went up for one of CSU's 17 offensive rebounds in the game and scored the putback to pull the Bucs back to within 11 at 41-30 with 19:23 to play. This was as close as CSU would get the rest of the way though, as Winthrop re-extended their lead back to 18 on a Nunn layup and the Eagles lead reached 20 with 7:18 to play on a pair of Williams free throws.

Winthrop closed out the game on a 9-0 run in taking the Big South win.

CSU shot 32.8% from the floor as a team in the loss and 21.1% from the three-point line despite a strong performance from Jarvis. The Bucs had 17 offensive boards among their 32 rebounds, while strong performances from Williams (11) and Ezinne Mbamalu (7) helped the Eagles hold the 36-32 advantage on the glass.

Charleston Southern remains in Big South Conference play as the Bucs head to Radford, Va., and the Dedmon Center to take on Radford in conference action on Monday night. Tipoff between the Bucs and the Highlanders is set for 7 p.m.