Birmingham, Ala. – Despite a late comeback, the Shorter Lady Hawks fell to the Delta State Lady Statesmen, 54-48, in the Gulf South Conference Tournament Semifinals on Friday afternoon.

Both teams struggled to score in the opening quarter, shooting a combined 6 for 23 from the field with the Lady Hawks shooting only 3 of 15. Madison Rice's jumper just 1:04 into the contest put Shorter on the board, but the Lady Statesmen quickly scored four straight points. First team all-GSC honoree Taylor Adams tied the game at four, but DSU went ahead by three. SU tied the game at seven, thanks to a free throw by Kayla Tillie and steal and layup by senior Shakierya McClendon, but at the end of the first, the Lady Hawks trailed the Lady Statesmen by a single basket, 9-7.

Just 40 seconds into the second period, McClendon cut the Delta State lead to one point, however, the Lady Statesmen embarked on a 10-0 run to take a 21-10 advantage. Adams stopped the DSU scoring via a layup with 3:22 on the clock, bringing Shorter within single digits. The Lady Statesmen again increased their lead, taking a 26-12 lead, their largest of the first half. Shaundricka Mann's and-1 made it an 11-point game, 26-15. Although Delta State managed another basket, Adams made a move through a double team to convert a layup with under four seconds remaining until halftime. Her basket sent Shorter to the locker room down 11.

In the first half, the Lady Hawks shot 28% from the field, while the Lady Statesmen made 50% of their attempts. SU converted only 1 of 6 attempts from beyond the 3-point line compared to 3 of 5 makes for Delta State.

Adams opened the third quarter for Shorter by cutting the Lady Statesmen lead to nine, but Delta State scored ten straight points thanks to two 3-pointers from Chelsey Rhodes. The Lady Hawks trailed by 19, but they battled back to within 10 at the end of the period. Shorter went on a 9-0 run over the final 3:10 of the quarter, with all but two points coming at the free throw line. Of the seven makes at the charity stripe, four came with less than 30 seconds remaining in the period, helping the Lady Hawks pull within 10, 38-28.

In the fourth, Williams cut Delta State's lead to nine with 6:59 remaining. From there, SU cut into the lead even more. Adams' layup made it an eight-point contest, before three free throws by Jackie Hudson and Tillie brought the score to 43-38. DSU pushed its lead to seven, but five straight points by Adams, including a 3-pointer, brought Shorter within two, 50-48, with 21 seconds left in the contest. Trailing by two, the Lady Hawks could not take the lead and fell 54-48 after successful free throws by the Lady Statesmen.

Adams led Shorter with 22 points, and Williams added seven. Rhodes led all scorers with 25 points for the Lady Statesmen. The Lady Hawks shot 29.2% from the field overall, while Delta State made 40.9% of its shots.

Shorter's record stands at 20-8. They await NCAA Division II Selection Sunday to find out whether they make the NCAA South Regional.