PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Alabama women’s basketball team dropped its fourth consecutive contest as UWA (2-4) fell 73-58 to Columbus State on Friday evening in the opening game of the West Florida Argo Classic at the UWF Field House. CSU improved to 2-3 on the season. 50 of the Cougars’ points came inside the paint as CSU shot 47-percent from the floor. UWA shot 35-percent on the night. UWA committed 35 turnovers in the outing helping the Red and Blue to 35 points off turnovers. Freshman Brittany Yeager paced the Red and White in scoring with 18 points. It marks the fifth time that the Woodstock, Ga.-native has led the Tigers in scoring. Erin Courington also posted double figures in the scoring column with 12 points, the third double digit scoring performance for the Locust Fork, Ala.-sophomore. Yeager, Keiara Middleton, Jenni Thomley and Jordan Kent all pulled down five rebounds each in the loss. Phebe Smith recorded a double-double to lead the Cougars. Smith tallied 24 points and 15 boards in the win. Turelle Jones chimed in 17 points to round out the double digit scorers for CSU. For the fifth straight time this season the Tigers were out-rebounded as the Cougars nabbed 39 boards to UWA's 37. After the two exchanged multiple leads in the opening 10 minutes of the affair, CSU's Smith tied the outing at 23-all, the third of the night, at the 7:16 mark of the first half. CSU went on a 13-2 run to take a 36-25 lead in at the break. UWA closed the gap to seven points behind a 7-3 run to open the second half, but the Red and Blue answered with an 11-2 run to push the lead out 50-34 with 13:17 remaining in the contest. The Cougars continued to build on its lead, reaching their largest margin at 18 points with 2:12 left in the game. West Alabama returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 5 as UWA faces Eckerd College at 2:00 p.m. in the UWF Argo Classic. Following the outing against the Tritons the Tigers will open a four-game homestand on Saturday Dec. 12 against Gulf South Conference West foe Christian Brothers.