ROME -- The Lady Hawks fell to West Florida, 60-54, Tuesday evening in the first game of 2018.
With the loss, Shorter slips to 2-9 on the season and 0-5 in conference play; while the Argos improve to 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the GSC.
After a slow start from both teams, that saw neither score during a six-minute span in the first quarter; West Florida pick things up in the final two minutes to take the lead, outscoring the Lady Hawks 9-4 through the final 2:54 of the frame. Shorter then stepped up in the second quarter; outscoring the Argos 14-12 in the period, but were unable to take the lead and went into the halftime break trailing 23-18.
West Florida maintained the advantage throughout the remainder of the game, despite the Lady Hawks cutting the lead to one possession on a number of occasions. The Argos saw their largest lead of the game, 56-44, with 3:45 to play in the fourth. Shorter looked the close the gap, but their comeback fell short as UWF held on for the win, even though the Lady Hawks tallied a 10-4 push to close the game.
Statistically, the teams were almost identical with both shooting around 35%. Shorter just edged the Argos with 21 made shots to UWF's 20, and both teams made four three-pointers. The difference, however, came at the free throw line as West Florida converted on 80% (16-20) and Lady Hawks finished with a 62% average (8-13). And, despite forcing the the Argos to 26 turnovers on the night, Shorter was only able to turn that into eight points.
BreAnna Thompson led Shorter with 16 points; just missing her third double-double of the season and second in as many games, while adding nine rebounds.
Tatum Ragsdale also finished in double-figures, posting 14 points on the night. While,
Denise Newton finished with nine and both,
Bianca Thornton and
Jasmine Gaines, adding six apiece.
The Argos were led by Halee Neiman's double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Lady Hawks will look to get back on track Thursday, as they welcome Valdosta State to the Winthrop-King Centre for a 6:00pm start.
