ROME, Ga. – As they head toward the midway point of the season, the Shorter men's and women's basketball teams share one common trait – they won't be riding the bus as much as they did since the season began.

From here on out, the Hawks and Lady Hawks will find themselves more within the warm confines of the Winthrop-King Centre where the two teams – of the 26 combined games the squads have played just seven have been on "The Hill" – will find themselves playing nine of their final 14 Gulf South Conference clashes that closes out the regular season.

The home-court advantage for Shorter begins Saturday when the Lady Hawks and Hawks square off against GSC foe Mississippi College at 2 and 4 p.m., respectively, a pair of showdowns that sets up a Monday night challenge against league leaders Delta State.

The Lady Hawks head into the back-to-back home games finding themselves in solid position in the GSC standings boasting a 9-3 overall record and a 6-2 conference slate – they're tied for third in the standings – having won their last four straight Gulf South tests.

Yet head coach Vic Mitchell is well aware that there's still plenty of battles still ahead and will be looking for the Lady Hawks to improve on what has already been a successful game plan.

Junior forward Taylor Adams continues to be the nucleus for the team at both ends of the floor where she leads the Lady Hawks averaging 16.1 points and a conference-best 11 rebounds a game, and while she is the only player averaging in double figures, the team has been getting balanced support up and down the lineup.

Senior Shakierya McClendon (9.5 ppg) also adds to the firepower as does senior Tamarr Williams (8.8) and junior Shaundricka Mann (8.4) while freshman Kayla Tillie has established herself as the playmaker as she averages a team-best 2.7 assists a game.

On Saturday, the Lady Hawks will go up against a Lady Choctaws squad (4-7, 2-6) that has won two of their last three games with decisions over Valdosta State and North Alabama, while Shorter is coming off a road victory last Tuesday over West Georgia, a game the Lady Hawks led comfortably but wound up having to fight off a late rally by the Wolves.

Two days later, the Lady Hawks will have their toughest test of the season when they square off against the Lady Statesmen of Delta State (10-1, 7-1), who are at the top of the GSC standings and ranked No. 22 in the national Division II poll.

The Hawks (6-8, 1-7) will step onto their own hardwood for just the fourth time this season on Saturday seeking the consistency head coach Tyler Murray knows is vital in the GSC and help snap a four-game conference losing skid.

Clearly, his team has the weapons to put points on the scoreboard as five Hawks are averaging in double figures, yet the squad has had trouble putting it all together.

That was the case last Tuesday in a 108-90 loss to the sharpshooting West Georgia Wolves, who found the range from three-point land hitting 15 treys, while keeping the Hawks' leading scorer, junior Phil Taylor, to below a double-digit output.

Taylor, who opened the first month of the season averaging 30 points, was held to just nine points – it was the second game in a row he was held to single digits – and now enters Saturday's game scoring at a 24.1 ppg clip.

Junior Chris Daniels, who had a career-high 34 points against the Wolves, also averages in double figures with a 12.9 mark, senior Trevor McDade and junior Alijah Bennett are each averaging 12.5 points, and junior Cole Birchfield is at 10.1 ppg.

Mississippi College (4-6, 3-5) comes to Rome having dropped a pair of home games in Clinton, Miss., over the last week to Alabama-Huntsville and Valdosta State, but all three of their GSC wins have come on the road.

On Monday, it doesn't get any easier for the Hawks when they entertain a Delta State squad (11-3, 6-2) that entering this weekend is in a three-way tie for first place in the conference standings with UAH and West Georgia.

Shorter closes out the first-half of their GSC schedule next Saturday, Jan. 16 heading to Cleveland, Tenn., to face Lee, then opens Part II on the season – seven of the last 11 games are at home – on Jan. 21 hosting Christian Brothers.