In a game that was close throughout - no team led by more than eight points - the Georgia Southwestern women's basketball team was unable to punch their ticket to the postseason and must wait until the regular season finale on Saturday as Columbus State defeated the Lady 'Canes 65-62 Wednesday night at the Lumpkin Center.

GSW (12-14, 7-9 PBC) is tied with Montevallo for the fourth - and final - conference tournament spot in the west division. If GSW wins on Saturday at No. 22 Clayton State, they're in. If they lose to the Lakers, Montevallo must lose at home to Columbus State for GSW to advance into the postseason.

On Wednesday night in Columbus, GSW jumped out to the early lead, 10-4.

The Cougars eventually tied the contest at 28-28 with 4:46 remaining in the first half before GSW went on a 10-2 run to extend the lead to eight points - their largest advantage of the night.

Columbus State regrouped after a timeout and scored the final five points of the half to head into the break trailing 38-35.

GSW relinquished the lead for the first time at the 13:23 mark of the second period (43-41).

The teams flip-flopped the lead four more times before CSU took the lead for good with 41 seconds left on the clock. The score had remained tied at 62-62 for a three minute and 22 second span up until that point.

Columbus State (16-10, 10-6) missed three consecutive free throws at the end to set the stage for a Lady Hurricanes three-pointer at the buzzer. Unfortunately, Brittany Reynolds' attempt from beyond the arc - one in which she drew contact from the defense - was off leaving Southwestern to focus on Saturday's affair at Clayton State.

Whitley Wiltz finished with 17 points to lead the Lady Hurricanes. Kanita Holloway chipped in 13. Nadirah Gardner grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds.

Phebe Smith scored 18 points for Columbus State. Monique Jefferson added 16 and Ashley Stafford came off the bench to score 12.

CSU had five more steals (8-3) than Southwestern and held a 26-9 advantage in bench points.

Saturday's game at Clayton State starts a 1:30 p.m.