Box Score
Jackson, MS-LSU-Shreveport put together a 21-6 run with 6:44 to play in the second half and defeated the Belhaven women's basketball team 55-40 in Rugg Arena Thursday night. It was the third straight loss for the Lady Blazers giving them an overall record of 17-12 and 8-9 in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. The Lady Pilots improve to 24-4 overall and 14-3 in the GCAC.

                                                    

LSU-Shreveport scored the first two points of the game on a pair of free throws by Quan Joseph to take an early 2-0 advantage. Brittany Skipper gave the Lady Blazers their first lead of the game at the 12:52 mark of the first half on a field goal to make the score 5-4. Belhaven then expanded their advantage to 11-6 with 9:31 until halftime on a bucket by Jira Williams.

 

The Lady Pilots knotted the score at 15-15 with 3:30 to play in the opening period as both teams traded baskets for the rest of the half. LSU-Shreveport's Whitney Hollins tied the score for the fourth time in the first half at 19-19 on a field goal with 53 seconds left on the clock. The final seconds on the clock ticked away without another point being scored as the teams went into the locker room tied at 19-19.

 

The contest continued to be a back and forth battle for the first 13 minutes of the second half, which included four more ties on the scoreboard. With the score deadlocked at 34-34, that's when the Lady Pilots made their final push. After a field goal by Belhaven's Jaelyn Stringer that gave the Lady Blazers a 36-34 lead, Hollins drilled a three pointer with 5:09 left and LS-Shreveport never trailed again for the rest of the game as they pulled away for the 55-40 win.

 

Jira Williams led the Belhaven offense with a game high 19 points and a team best seven rebounds. Jaelyn Stringer finished the night with seven points and six boards. The offense struggled the entire night hitting just 24.3 percent of their shots from the field. The Lady Blazers have been effective shooting threes all year but could not find it Thursday going 1 of 21 from behind the arc. The Lady Blazer defense was strong forcing 21 turnovers, but it was not enough to pull out a win.

 

LSU-Shreveport had three players in double figures led by Hollins with 14 points followed by Jamien Arvie and Janai Sells with 13. The Lady Pilots converted on 43.8 percent of their shots from the field.