WISE, Va. – Women's basketball was up by one point heading into the second half, but went cold from the field over the final 20 minutes in its loss to UVA-Wise, 63-42. The Bears (8-2, 3-2 MSC) led 23-22 at the half; however, they shot just 27-percent from the field in the second half. On the other hand, the Cavaliers (4-7, 2-3 MSC) shot nearly 60-percent from the field, including a 6-of-9 effort from three and held a 41-19 edge in the second half to pick up the win.

The Cavaliers' Chelsea Cluesman and Katie Lester led the winning effort for the hosts, scoring 18 and 15 points, respectively. For the Bears, Alex Pohl finished with a team-high 11 points, while Kara Long and Alannah Sheets each added eight points.

In a low scoring first half, the Bears took as much as a 10 point lead in the opening half. After the two sides were tied at six-all just under six minutes into the game, the Bears went on a 7-0 run. After UVA-Wise cut the SSU lead to four, 15-11, Shawnee State went on a 5-0 run to stretch the lead to nine.

After the Cavaliers got another basket to cut the lead to seven, Pohl converted an and-one opportunity to put her squad up by 10 with just 2:34 remaining in the opening half, 23-13. However, UVA-Wise would go on a 9-0 run to cut the Bears lead to just one at the half.

The Cavaliers would carry that momentum into the second half by scoring the first seven points of the half, making it 16 points since the Bears had last scored. A Sheets' three would cut the deficit to three, but a 6-0 run and 15-0 run sandwiched around a single SSU basket would stretch Wise's lead to 22 points, 52-30 with 11:07 to play.

Baskets by Pohl and Rachael Young would get the deficit to 16, but SSU could come no closer as the Cavaliers picked up a 21 point victory in the conference matchup.

The Bears will be back at home next Saturday, December 8 at 2 p.m. for a non-conference game vs. Marian.