MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The University of West Alabama women's basketball team succumbed to the University of Montevallo, 74-59, to start the second half of Gulf South Conference play Wednesday night inside the Central State Bank Arena.

With the victory, UM improved to 10-6 and 8-5 in the league, while UWA dropped to 4-13 and 4-10. 

"Credit to Montevallo, they played hard. I am disappointed in the lack of effort of our play tonight. We cannot seem to turn a corner. We could not convert on our opportunities tonight," said head coach Rusty Cram. 

Trailing 6-4 in the early goings, UWA saw field goals by Kamille Clark and Kaedre Denson to swing the lead back to the visitors, 8-6, halfway through the stanza. 

Montevallo went on a 10-2 run in about a two-minute span, but UWA dug out of the hole thanks to a Denson layup and triple by Sydney Schwallie cutting the UM lead back to a one-possession affair, 18-15, with under a minute to go. 

The Falcons responded with a shot from deep by Savannah Cook to lead 21-15 after 10 minutes. 

West Alabama trimmed the deficit to a field goal, 24-22, with 8:30 left in the second period after Kendall Lacoste's layup. From there, the Falcons soared from the field, knocking down 8-of-13 in a seven-minute stretch and outscored the Tigers 21-2 in the run to take a 45-29 halftime lead. 

Most of UM's work in the period came thanks to the turnover, forcing eight UWA miscues and connecting 17 of the team's 24 points in the frame. 

Montevallo had a lead as large as 20 in the third stanza, but the home team could not connect from the floor, only making three shots from long distance. Meanwhile, West Alabama was unable to capitalize on their offensive end, just making two shots in 13 attempts. 

UWA offense did come around in the fourth, outscoring UM 22-16 in the period and connecting on 8-of-15 from the field. 

In the second half, the Tigers forced 12 Falcon turnovers, scoring on 18 of the team's 30 points and connected on 10-of-28 from the field. On defense, UWA held UM to 6-of-23 overall and 5-of-13 from deep. 

The Tigers' woes on the turnover continued in this Wednesday night road contest, as the Falcons totaled 23 mistakes and scoring 34 of the team's 74 points on the other end. 

Despite the setback, UWA's defense forced 20 UM turnovers and scored 26 points off of those mistakes. The Tigers also converted 23 shots from the field. 

Off the bench, Julia Rodriguez dropped a team-high 16 points on 6-of-14 and added four thefts. 

Kamille Clark scored 6-of-8 from the floor for 12 points and also grabbed six boards. 

Marisa Snodgrass knocked down 5-of-6 from deep and led all scorers with 20 points and also contributed six assists. 

Following a week off, West Alabama will return to the hardwood on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at Auburn Montgomery. The contest will commence at 5:30 p.m.