BEREA, Ky. - The Berea College women's basketball team remain undefeated in the Collegiate Conference of the South after defeating the Piedmont University Lions 77-63 at the Seabury Center Sunday afternoon.
 
The Mountaineers are now on a six-game winning streak and are 16-1 overall and 8-0 in the CCS. With the win over the Lions, Berea is the only team in the CCS to have a perfect conference record as Piedmont falls to 4-1 in conference play.
 
Freshman LynKaylah James and senior Destiny Combs led the Mountaineers to their victory. James had an outstanding game by scoring her fourth double-double with a season high of 20 points (8-10 overall), 11 boards, and three steals. Combs added 20 points with seven rebounds. Sophomore Jayden Merriweather shot an impressive 50 percent from the three-point line (3-6) and scored 12 points with four assists.
 
The first quarter started off close with Berea leading the Lions into the second quarter 17-12. Piedmont's Colby Reed started the Lions' 6-0 run in the second quarter by scoring a layup in the fastbreak. Berea struggled in the quarter by only making five of their 15 shots compared to Piedmonts 58 percent from the field and 80 percent from beyond the arc.  Before going into halftime Piedmont made three three-pointers in a row to help them win the advantage of leading Berea 34-30.
 
Colby Reed's 26 points (5-9 3PT) and six rebounds helped the Lions stay close to the Mountaineers throughout the game. Nakiyah Washington added 11 points and grabbed seven boards.
 
Combs's and-one two minutes into the third quarter allowed the Mountaineers to take the lead and they never trailed behind the Lions after this. Berea shot nine of 10 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter to help them stretch their lead to take the win.
 
The Mountaineers will now have a week off to get ready for another conference matchup against Maryville College at Maryville on Saturday, January 21st. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. in Maryville, Tenn.