Box Score

LaGrange, GA - The Lady Lions fought hard but came up empty, dropping the 79-71 game to LaGrange in the semifinals of the Great South Athletic Conference Tournament.  Piedmont had lost just four times all year, including once to the Lady Panthers earlier in the season, but the home team and host team of the tournament came up big when it mattered most.  The Lady Lions found themselves down four at the half despite leading most of the way, then had a seven-point lead with under eight to go but couldn't hold on.

Junior Alyssa Jones was on the fire to start the game, nailing three tri-fectas in the first two-plus minutes for Piedmont's first nine points.  The guard hit another trey, her fourth, to put the women up six about midway through the opening half.  The lead was stretched to nine when senior Shanice Wheeler converted a 3-point play at the charity stripe with under seven minutes left until halftime.  An 18-5 LaGrange run followed until the buzzer sounded to send the women to the locker room, where the home team was suddenly up 39-35.

Junior Keiondria Thompson, who had an impressive 21-point performance, made a layup about four minutes into the second half to put the game in Piedmont's favor, up 42-41.  Thompson and senior Sada Wheeler tallied back-to-back baskets moments later before Thompson connected from long range to push the lead to five with 12 minutes on the clock. She scored eight straight points during that span and the following pair of baskets, and had a stretch of 14 points of the team's 18 from the 15:57 mark to 10:23 to go.

Jones hit her fifth 3-pointer with 7:25 remaining to give the Lady Lions a comfortable seven-point lead, but a 9-2 spurt for the home team tied the game at 63 with five minutes left in the game.  SADA WHEELER made two inside shots in a row, but again LaGrange copied with a pair of buckets to tie at 67.  A huge 3-pointer with 2:24 left was the defining moment for the Lady Panthers, as part of nine unanswered points.  LaGrange made five freebies down the stretch to take the win as Piedmont couldn't put together enough scoring in the final few minutes.

The loss set Piedmont at 21-5 on the season and likely ended the year as it was booted from the GSAC Tournament, leaving them out of receiving an automatic bid into the NCAA Division-III National Tournament.  Thompson and SADA WHEELER both tallied a game-best 21 points, while Wheeler grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots in her final game as a Lady Lion.  The post player's final basket gave her 1,000 career points at Piedmont and 1,023 for her career overall.  Jones' solid effort included 17 points on five 3-pointers and six rebounds to go with four assists.  The remaining seniors, SHANICE WHEELER and Amber Satterfield, tallied seven and five points respectively in their final game in the green and gold.