MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. -- The Georgia Southwestern State University women's basketball team struggled to find its shooting touch in a 68-54 loss in front of 505 at Georgia College Wednesday.
Senior Shanya Jones scored 10 second half points to finish with 14 and lead the Lady Canes (6-12, 3-11 PBC). Gabby Figgers went 4-of-8 from long-range on the way to scoring 12 points.
Shay Tarver notched 22 points and grabbed five rebounds for Georgia College (13-7, 10-4 PBC).
How It Happened: A tough first quarter put GSW in a hole it couldn't recover from as the Bobcats took a 12-3 lead after the opening 10 minutes. Jones made the first basket from the field for GSW with 7:49 left in the quarter, but that was the only field goal the Lady Canes could manage the rest of the way. Kya Cochran knocked down a free throw with 1:25 to go for the other Georgia Southwestern point as they shot just 20 percent from the floor.
GSW scored 17 points in the second quarter, but again managed to shoot just 20 percent from the field (7-of-35 1st half). Figgers made the only 3-pointer of the first half as the Lady Canes went 1-of-9 from deep. Eight different players scored at least one point for GSW in the first half as the Bobcats led 35-20 at the break.
The third quarter was the best of the night as GSW outscored Georgia College 16-14 to cut into the Bobcat lead. Figgers knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:30 to go making it just a 12-point GC advantage, but a layup and free throw from Brianna Davis pushed it back to 15. GSW made two free throws over the final three minutes to make it 49-36 heading to the final quarter.
The Lady Canes were able to make it an 11-point game twice in the fourth quarter. First on a made 3-pointer from Lauren Duncan with 7:07 to go and second on a layup from Kris Beckham with 4:21 remaining, however that was as close as GSW would get down the stretch. Figgers hit her fourth 3-pointer as time expired to make it a 68-54 final.
GSW shot 29.2 percent (19-of-65) from the floor on the night and were outscored 40-22 in the paint.
The Lady Canes held a 43-36 advantage on the boards and got 27 points off the bench to just 14 for the Bobcats.
Who Stood Out: Figgers found her shooting touch after being off the last few games and added three steals on the night. The sharpshooter came into the game fourth in the conference from deep and hit 50 percent from three to climb to 40.2 percent on the season.
Up Next: GSW is back in the Storm Dome on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. when Young Harris visits Americus for a Peach Belt Conference matchup.