By Jim O'Hara
 
ROME, Ga. – They know there is little room for error in they want to extend their season.

But with three games remaining in the regular-season, the Shorter women's basketball team has made it crystal clear that they are willing to do everything they can to make their first-ever appearance in the Gulf South Conference tournament.

Coming off what was the biggest GSC road win of the season that kept them in the hunt for a postseason berth, the Lady Hawks are back in the warm confines of the Winthrop-King Centre on Thursday night when they host Delta State in another conference test that begins at 6 p.m.

"I am excited about the way the team has been playing for the past month," head coach Vic Mitchell said about the Lady Hawks, who enter the game with a 7-12 GSC record (11-14 overall) after knocking off host West Alabama last Saturday to create a tie with UWA for the eighth and final spot available for the right to play in the conference tournament.

"We have been playing so much more solid on the defensive end of the floor and giving us a chance in practically every game," the coach said, noting that the Lady Hawks have won two of their last three games – both on the road – to remain in the hunt. "The way we are playing gives us a legitimate chance at making the postseason tournament, and the team and coaches are excited about that opportunity."

The formula Shorter has used to put themselves in the position of making the conference tournament in its first season of being a full GSC member has been by committee, with senior guard Ieshia Alexander serving as its chair.

Alexander continues to lead the Lady Hawks in scoring averaging 15.1 points a game while handing out 2.8 assists, but the opponents Shorter has faced have also had to cope with a team that goes deep into the lineup as eight players have averaged nearly 20 minutes or more on the court.

Heading up the deep roster heading into the last two weeks of the regular season has been freshman Cynara Pitt, who has been coming off the bench to become the team's second leading scorer averaging 8.3 points, and under the glass senior Lindsey Crawford and sophomore Shaundricka Mann have teamed up to give the Lady Hawks a solid one-two punch, with Crawford averaging seven points and Mann topping the team averaging six rebounds.

The Lady Hawks, however, are fully aware that with the opportunity they still have, comes three straight clashes with teams that bested Shorter in the first go-around this season.
Delta State, which has already secured a tourney spot and comes to Rome in third place in the league's standings, humbled Shorter last month in Cleveland, Miss., in a game that saw the Lady Hawks held to just 36 points, the lowest output of the season.

On Saturday afternoon in their final home game, the Lady Hawks entertain Mississippi College, which also topped Shorter in the two teams' first meeting and on Feb. 28 in the regular season finale the Lady Hawks head to Cleveland, Tenn., where they square off against rival Lee, which edged Shorter on its own court in an overtime thriller.

"We are also excited about having two of our last three games at home in front of our fans," said Mitchell. "There is no doubt we play better, as most teams do, on our home court.

"We do have our work cut out for us," he added, "but I like our chances with the effort everyone is giving right now. It should be an exciting ending for us."