ATLANTA, Ga. (December 18, 2021) – The Spring Hill College (SHC) women's basketball team accepted a 69-64 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) road loss to the Clark Atlanta University (CAU) Panthers at L.S. Epps Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers (3-10; 3-2 SIAC East) held a 29-24 edge with two minutes left in the first half, but expanded their lead to 34-26 by halftime.
Spring Hill came out of the locker rooms ready to play in the 3
rd quarter and immediately grabbed a 36-35 lead, but an inside layup followed by a floating free-throw line jumper by CAU gave the advantage back to the Panthers.
SHC took advantage of a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup to wrest back the lead at 44-39 with 4:43 left in the 3
rd period.
The Badgers led 49-48 opening the final 10 minutes, but a CAU steal with a fast-break basket followed by a 3-pointer from the right side put the Panthers back on top 53-49 just a minute later. With 3:58 remaining, CAU maintained a 62-59 edge, but the Badgers sliced it to 63-61 with 3:02 left.
A short Badger jumper from the left side then tied the game at 63-63, but with 57 seconds left on the clock CAU held a 67-64 lead and ball possession. The Badgers got the ball back following a CAU traveling call under the basket with 42 seconds, but the Panthers corralled the rebound of a missed 3-point attempt at 8.8 seconds. Two final free throws would salt away the game for the home team.
SHC shot 39% (23-59) from the field and 41.2% (7-17) from 3-point range with 29 turnovers versus 14 CAU steals.
Tyashia Bostick and
Ariel Thompson both scored 14 points while
Zareia Ector added 11. Thompson hauled in 10 rebounds as the two teams tied with 48 rebounds each.
CAU shot 30.4% (24-79) from the floor and 17.4% (4-23) from 3-point range with 18 turnovers versus 13 Badger steals. Reagan Jackson had 20 points, Denise Stine collected 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Meagan Barkely came off the bench for 12 points.
The Badgers (3-8; 1-3 SIAC West) take the next two weeks off for the Christmas and New Year's holidays before hosting the Savannah State University (SSU) Tigers (9-0; 4-0 SIAC East) at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, January 3, 2022, in the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
