LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The University of West Alabama women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaker Saturday afternoon inside Pruitt Hall with a 59-56 loss to Shorter University. 

With the loss, UWA dropped to 5-16 and 4-13 in the Gulf South Conference, while SU improved to 2-19 and 1-16. 

The offense was clicking early for the Tigers, scoring the first seven points. After a bad pass by Ahtiana Benway, Julia Rodriguez's fast break capped the run. 

Shorter finally found the bottom of the net with 5:20 in the period, but West Alabama quickly responded with a Sydney Schwallie 3-pointer.

UWA got the lead to double figures with a Rodriguez off another SU turnover with 1:36 left in the period en route to a 16-10 lead after one quarter. 

Knocking down 6-of-9 in the period, the Tigers forced five Lady Hawks turnovers and had six points out of it. 

Shorter found the rhythm in the second period, converting 7-of-13 from the field. The Lady Hawks cut it to within one with an Ariyah Brooks second chance layup with 51 seconds left in the half.

What kept UWA in the game was the free throws, as they scored eight of 10 attempts. Sydney Schwallie had half of the makes from the charity stripe, going a perfect 4-of-4. 

The Tigers added six more turnovers by the Lady Hawks and converted those to 10 points. Late in the period, following a Maryanne Logsdon theft, Rodriguez added two more with a driving layup as West Alabama went into the locker room with a 32-27 halftime lead. 

West Alabama made it an eight-point game again early in the third after a three-point play by Rodriguez. 

Shorter responded with a quick 7-0 run in over two minutes to make it a one-point game, but West Alabama responded with five straight to lead 40-34 at the media timeout. 

UWA was unable to maintain the lead for the remainder of the quarter, as SU used a 10-4 run in the final 4:34 to tie the game at 44.

Despite Logsdon's driving layup off a turnover to start the quarter, the Lady Hawks took their first lead of the afternoon with nine minutes to go with a triple by Jordan Tanksley. 

UWA did restore order briefly with a three-point play by Kamille Clark a 51-47 lead with 7:23 remaining in regulation. However, the Lady Hawks answered again with a run, evening the game again at 52 with 4:41 to go. That would spark a 7-0 run for the visitors' biggest lead of the night, 57-52, with three minutes to go. 

With under a minute remaining, UWA made it a 57-56 deficit after Clark drove the paint and scoring while drawing the foul. Unfortunately, she was unable to tie the game on the three-point play opportunity. Despite Logsdon's offensive board, the trip would come up empty, keeping the Lady Hawks lead to one. 

The defense for West Alabama was clutch on the next possession, as Logsdon came up with the steal at mid-court with seven seconds remaining. However, a turnover by UWA ended the threat as SU picked up its first win in league play in 2024. 

Julia Rodriguez had a game-high 18 points on 7-of-13 from the floor and added six boards. 

Kamille Clark added 11 points, six boards and two steals, while Sydney Schwallie dropped 10 points and dished out three dimes. 

Tiara Lewis kept the pace for Shorter with 17 points and five rebounds, while Derrica McCall added 15 points and nine boards. 

UWA will now hit the road for a weekend trip to the Magnolia State, starting with Mississippi College on Thursday. Tip off from Clinton is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.