Cleveland, GA - On Saturday, November 1st, the Truett-McConnell women's basketball team faced Columbia International University (CIU) in a non-conference game at home in The Bear Cave, the team's first home game of the season. 
 

The Lady Bears started off a little sluggish against the CIU offense, moving into halftime down three points to their opponent, 15-18. 

The second half started out much different for the Lady Bears, looking to be a different game with the energy they brought to the court. However, the Lady Bears defense soon began to falter as seven consecutive fouls against them halted any momentum they once had. CIU sunk two free throws in addition to a shot, dropping the Lady Bears down to four points behind their opponent. With 15:52 on the clock, the score showed 17-21. 

Finally, the Lady Bears started to gain momentum at they answered CIU with two points of their own. CIU rallied back with another 2 points, the score showing 19-23 at 14:32.

As the Bears tightened up their defense, they forced CIU to have 3 consecutive traveling fouls called against them. With this gain in momentum, the Lady Bears took at timeout at 13:21 to get back into their offensive strategy. The timeout worked to the Lady Bears advantage, as they went shot-for-shot with CIU for next few minutes, the score showing 24-27 with 11:28 to go in the game. 
 

A foul against Heather Shore kept the Lady Bears on the board, as Shore went 2 for 2 on her free throws. The Lady Bears, trailing by only one point, began to speed up their offensive and defensive game, offering CIU no holes in which to move the ball around. With 10:26 left in the second half, the score showed 26-27. 
 

Two three-pointers by CIU increased their lead, as the Lady Bears were unable to make a shot until Rhande Haskett sunk a field goal, leading the CIU coach to call a timeout. The Lady Bears finally took the lead for the first time in the game, holding CIU 37-35 with only 4:00 minutes left in the game. 
 

The game continued with both teams fighting shot-for-shot. With only 1:13 remaining, the score showed 39-39. With a foul against Veronika Brooks of the Lady Bears, Brooks went one for two on her free throws, placing the Lady Bears in the lead 40-39. With only :22 seconds remaining in the game, the visiting CIU called a timeout.
 

Following the timeout, the Lady Bears lead was overtaken as CIU hit a 3-pointer with only 15 seconds remaining. Failing to rebound, the Lady Bears allowed their opponent to regain the ball on their side of the court. With 8 seconds on the clock, the Lady Bears fouled CIU to regain possession. CIU went two for two on their free throws, setting their lead to four points ahead of the Lady Bears.

Despite a last-minute defensive effort, the Lady Bears would walk away with a 40-44 loss to the visiting CIU. This is their first lost of the 2014-2015 season. In the game against CIU, Rhande Haskett led the Lady Bears with 18 points and 8 defensive rebounds. Helen Simoes was next in line with 7 points, followed by Monica Hammond with 5. 

 

The Lady Bears are now 0-1 overall, and 0-0 in AAC play. The Lady Bears return to action Tuesday, November 4th as they travel to Columbia College. Tip-off is set for 6:30 PM.