Box Score
JACKSON, Miss. – Points were not easy to come by in a defensive battle between Belhaven and Mobile on Thursday night. However it was the Lady Rams that found the bottom of the basket late, using a 14-0 run to end the game to defeat the Blazers 60-44 in front of a raucous Rugg Arena crowd.

The Blazers came into the battle with Mobile (10-8, 5-4 SSAC) as one of the hottest teams in conference play since the start of the New Year. Belhaven had won two of their last three games at home, with their lone loss coming against non-conference foe Freed-Hardeman on Saturday.

There was one theme consistent between all of those games and that was the drive that the Blazers had to finish games out strong, regardless of the outcome. Unfortunately for the team, that was not how they finished on Thursday night and it cost them.

The first half was one to forget for both squads.

At the break the two teams were knotted at 17 points apiece and neither team looked poised to get out of a shooting slump that plagued the first half. Each team shot 25 percent or lower from the field, but Belhaven (7-11, 4-4 SSAC) was able to hide their shooting woes with 14 offensive rebounds in the half.

The second chance opportunities were the only way that the Blazers were able to tie up the score at the midway point.

Halftime speeches sparked the two teams to come out with a renewed fire in the second half, as the points started to come in bunches on each side of the floor. Mobile and Belhaven battled back and forth for the next 15 minutes, but with five minutes remaining in the game it was the Lady Rams that held a two point lead 46-44.

A timeout was taken by Mobile to try and rally the troops after a small Blazer scoring burst. 

The strategy worked as Mobile forced turnovers on each of the Blazers next four possessions to open up a lead that Belhaven would not be able to recover from. In fact, the Blazers would not put another point on the board for the remainder of the contest.

Erika Leflore posted another complete effort for the Blazers on both ends of the floor, as she finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds for the double-double. The only other Belhaven player to finish in double figures for points was Ashley Wakefield with 17 on the night. She scored 13 of those in the second half, but in the end it was not enough to complete the comeback.

The Blazers ended the game shooting 27.1% from the field (16-59), but out-rebounded Mobile 49-37 with 23 boards coming on the offensive end of the floor. Unfortunately, the Blazers couldn't take advantage of their second chance opportunities.

Briana Edwards led all scorers with 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Rams. Deonica McCormick added 13 points and Molly Speed contributed 10 points off the bench. Mobile finished hitting 28 of 65 shots from the field (43.1%), including a 58.8% effort in the second half (20-34).

The Blazers will look to get back to their winning ways with a quick turnaround road trip to Montgomery to take on Auburn-Montgomery on Saturday afternoon. The tip-off is slated for 2:00 PM.