The Georgia Southwestern women's basketball team fell back under .500 with a 64-57 loss to Columbus State in the Storm Dome on Saturday evening.

The Lady Hurricanes (8-9, 3-4 PBC) built an eight-point lead (21-13) with 4:30 to play in the first half as both offenses struggled to sink shots out of the gate. Shooting woes continued for GSW as Columbus State (10-7, 4-3) went on a 10-2 run - in which Southwestern went without a field goal - to tie the game at 23 at the break.

The Lady Cougars scored the first four points of the second half and would eventually lead by five in the early going, but could not pull away. GSW took the lead briefly on two different occasions midway through the half, but a CSU three-pointer with 8:21 left gave the Lady Cougars the lead for good at 46-44. That shot started a 9-0 run for Columbus State as they took a 52-44 lead with 5:38 left.

Southwestern would get as close as two points (52-50) with 4:18 to play  when Brittany Reynolds hit a jumper to cap a 6-0 run, but a long three-point basket moments later by Nikki Urbizo put CSU back up by five. The Lady Cougars would go on to lead by eight again a short time later before GSW attempted one final run, getting as close as three points with 26 seconds left after a Brandi Burris trey made it 60-57. Free-throws by Urbizo and Lauren Ringfield sealed the win for the Lady Cougars in the final 23 seconds.

Reynolds led GSW with 19 points, while Jessica Bivins came off the bench to score 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting. She went 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and at the free throw line. The Hurricanes shot 38 percent on the night and forced 24 CSU turnovers.

Phebe Smith led CSU with a 15-point and 12-rebound double-double. Urbizo added 12 points. The Lady Cougars held a 41-32 advantage in rebounds and shot 54 percent in the second half.

GSW hosts Augusta State on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

PICTURED: Kanita Holloway

PHOTO BY: Chris Fenn