Saint Augustine's Lady Bears Falls to Shaw 87-83

RALEIGH, North Carolina – Saint Augustine's University outscored Shaw University in the second half of an 87-83 loss in a CIAA women's basketball contest between crosstown rivals at packed Spaulding Gymnasium on Saturday, January 24, 2015.

The Lady Falcons (2-1 Southern Division, 4-4 CIAA, 10-7 overall) kept pace with Lady Bears throughout but fell just short of pulling out the win. A three-pointer by guard Regime McCombs (Jr./Greenville, SC) closed the margin to 85-83 with six seconds left, but Fantasha Tyson of the Lady Bears canned two free throws with four seconds left for the final margin.

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The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Lady Falcons, who were tied for first place in the Southern Division before the game. Despite the loss, Head Coach Rachel Bullard of the Lady Falcons was proud of the way her team battled. The Lady Falcons outscored the Lady Bears 40-37 in the second half.

"Although the loss is difficult to swallow, our ladies gave a great effort," Bullard said. "We fought until the last second."

McCombs led the Lady Falcons with 18 points and guard LaKiya Rouse (Jr./Greensboro, NC) added 14 points. Guard Porscha Walton (Jr./Chesterfield, VA) nearly had a triple-double with 13 points, nine rebounds and eight assists while guard Shanika Harris (Jr./Richmond, VA) scored 13 points. Forward Terri Jacobs (Jr./McDonough, GA) nearly recorded a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds before fouling out, and forward Kaleisha Moore (So./Kinston, NC) was marvelous off the bench with eight points, five rebounds and two steals.

Led by five points from Harris, the Lady Falcons opened a 12-3 lead, but eventually fell behind in the first half. They went into the locker room trailing 50-43 at halftime, but another early spurt pushed the Lady Falcons in front again 58-56 in the second half after a three-point play by Jacobs and an offensive putback by Moore.

Cold shooting would eventually be the undoing of the Lady Falcons, who trailed between two and nine points the rest of the second half. The Lady Falcons managed to pull within 83-80 on McCombs' jumper with 38 seconds left, but Tyson of Shaw pushed the margin to five points with two free throws.

The Lady Falcons still had hope when McCombs drilled a deep three-pointer, but Tyson iced the contest for the Lady Bears when she hit both free throws in the closing seconds.

The Lady Falcons shot 36 percent from the floor while the Lady Bears made 44 percent of their shots. The bulk of the Lady Bears' scoring came from inside player Verdine Warner (24 points, 13 rebounds) and Tyson (22 points). Kaula Jacks added 10 points for the Lady Bears (2-1 Southern Division, 5-4 CIAA, 12-9 overall).

The Lady Falcons made one more field goal (33) than the Lady Bears (32) and forced 25 turnovers which led to 27 points. The Lady Bears were 20 of 28 from the free throw line while the Lady Falcons were 13 of 15.

On Wednesday, January 28, the Lady Falcons will host Southern Division leader Livingstone College, which is unbeaten this season. The game will take place at Emery Gymnasium at 5:30 p.m.

"We have some things to clean up, but I am confident we will be ready to go on Wednesday, Bullard said. "The Lady Falcons are resilient."

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