DAHLONEGA, Ga. --A battle between two teams with only 1 loss on the season ended with a defeat for Georgia Southwestern on Wednesday night against 13th ranked North Georgia. Despite missing its best shooter and head coach for the road matchup, the Lady Canes came out swinging ending a high-scoring first quarter with a 25-22 lead. The defenses for both sides came alive in the second with both teams combined scoring only 24 points after both squads reached 20+ in the first. The Lady Canes took a five-point lead into the half with Ava Jones leading the way, scoring half of the GSW points in the half, with 19.
The second half started with a North Georgia run followed by a GSW run the short-handed Lady Canes showed signs of fatigue late in the third quarter however and North Georgia outscored GSW by seven in the quarter after a late run by the Nighthawks to take a one-point lead into the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter was a back and forth battle until the Nighthawks finally pulled away enough at the end for a 7 point win.
Ava Jones was dominant on both sides of the ball. She finished the game with a career-high and the second highest point total in program history with 33 points on the night and added six steals on the defensive side of the ball. The Lady Canes fall to 9-2 on the season with both losses coming to ranked opponents. They will continue conference play Saturday as the host Georgia College.
