JACKSON, Miss. – The Blazers dropped their American Southwest Conference home opener against the #10 Hardin-Simmons University Cowgirls on Thursday evening inside Rugg Arena. With the loss, the Blazers fall to 4-2 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

Belhaven led early on in the first quarter, but the Cowgirls fired back to take the 11-4 advantage midway through the first frame. The Blazers struggled on both sides of the ball as the Cowgirls took the 22-10 lead into the second quarter.

The Cowgirls lead as many as 17 points in the second quarter, but the Blazers found a spark and narrowed the lead to six points with 2:38 remaining before the halftime break. Hardin Simmons then went on a 7-0 run to close out the first half to bring the score to 36-23 with cowgirls holding onto the advantage.

To open the second half, the Cowgirls continued to shoot well from the floor to extend their lead to 16 points with just under four minutes left in the third quarter. The Blazers struggled to keep up with the Cowgirls high powered offense as HSU held the 56-38 lead through three quarters. The Cowgirls showed why they are the #10 team in the nation as they held strong to take the 77-52 victory over the Blazers in Rugg Arena.

Xhirr Burgess led the Blazers with 11 points, shot 75 percent from the field and went 5-for-7 from the free throw line. Nyah Davis finished the contest with 10 points and shot 66.6 percent from the charity stripe.

The Blazers will return to action on Saturday, December 4 against the McMurry University War Hawks inside Rugg Arena in American Southwest Conference play. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

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