MOBILE, Ala. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) women's basketball team returned to action on Saturday afternoon following a two-week break for the holidays with a heartbreaking 84-83 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) loss to the Clark Atlanta University (CAU) Panthers in the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
 
SHC held a slim 20-18 lead after the 1^st quarter of play and carried a 43-41 advantage into the halftime locker rooms, but at the end of the 3^rd quarter CAU refused to go away as the Badgers maintained only a 63-60 cushion.
 
Marissa Mandledove turned a Badger turnover into a fast break layup to give the Panthers a 67-65 lead with 8:47 on the clock, but SHC rallied back to grab back a 69-67 advantage. At 6:31, another Badger turnover resulted in a layup on the other by I'nayiah Moore as CAU recaptured a 71-69 lead.
 
By the 4:30 mark, sophomore forward Tiffany Valentine had added a layup and two free throws to hand SHC a 75-71 cushion, but CAU would answer back to take an 82-81 lead at 1:29 off a layup by Lauren Turner. Trailing 84-83 with just 7 seconds left on the clock, senior guard Jewel Hill missed a jumper that Valentine rebounded only to have her follow up attempt swatted away by Jonae Lee with two seconds showing. Hill's final attempt at the buzzer would miss the mark sending the Lady Panthers home with the victory.
 
Valentine led the Badgers with her personal season-high of 34 points while sophomore guard Elise Reilly added 18 points. Senior Jennifer Clark and sophomore Daja Walker each contributed 10 points. As a team, SHC shot a healthy 51.8% (29-56) from the floor and 40% (4-10) from 3-point distance, but hurt themselves with 21 turnovers against just six steals by the Lady Panthers. At the free throw line, SHC connected on 91.3% (21-23) of their attempts, but they were out-rebounded by a 40-27 margin.
 
The Panthers (8-5, 6-0 SIAC East) saw Naomi Holloway drop in 32 points as Lauren Taylor added 25 points despite spending much of the 2^nd half battling foul troubles. CAU shot 45.5% (30-66) from the field including 42.1% (8-19) from 3-point land, but kept the Badgers in the game with just a 64% (16-25) effort at the free throw line. CAU also lost 21 turnovers to 10 steals by SHC as both teams scored 26 points off turnovers.
 
The Badgers (7-6, 1-3 SIAC West) next take to the floor on Thursday when they travel to Albany, Ga., to face the Albany State University (ASU) Golden Rams (8-8, 4-2 SIAC East) beginning at 5:30 p.m. (East) in West Campus Arena.