MONTGOMERY, Ala. --- The Mississippi College women's basketball team fell 60-57 at Auburn University at Montgomery in Gulf South Conference action on Monday evening. MC moved to 4-6 on the season and 1-4 in the conference while AUM improved to 6-4 and 2-2 in the league.
 

---

 
KEY NOTES
Lauran Sheriff recorded her first, collegiate double-double to lead the Lady Choctaws. The Jackson, Miss., native totaled a team-best 16 points and a season-high 11 rebounds in the setback.
 
Zan Ratcliffe joined Sheriff in double figures with 12 points in the contest. The total was two of matching her season-high of 14 points.

Zariah Matthews recorded a career-high with six assists and tied a career mark with a block while Jamilah Sanders also scored a season-high with eight points. Kaitlyn Thompson equaled a career-high with a pair of blocks.
 
Mississippi College shot a season-high 37.5 percent from behind the arc as it eclipsed its previous high of 33.3 set against West Alabama and matched on Saturday at West Georgia. The Lady Choctaws also connected on a season-best 77.8 percent from the charity stripe against the Black and Orange.
 
Evelina Avleeva led AUM with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Makaylla Bullard and Regan Croff each added 12 points for the Warhawks.
 

---

 
TURNING POINT
Mississippi College clipped the deficit to within a point late in the fourth quarter, but the Warhawks responded with a 6-0 run to push the lead out to 58-51 with 17 seconds left in the game. Bullard and Avleena combined for all six points during the run.
 

---

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lady Choctaws trailed by as many as 10 points in the first quarter, but managed to work the deficit within 23-21 midway through the second quarter behind an old-fashioned, 3-point play from Ieisha Lacey. The score capped a 7-0 run by the Navy and Gold. AUM responded with a 4-0 run to close out the quarter and take a 27-21 lead in at the intermission.
 
The Warhawks opened the second half in similar fashion to start of the game with a 9-0 run to claim a 36-21 lead two minutes into the third period. MC chipped away at the gap as it cut the lead under double-digits, 38-30, with 4:38 left in the quarter on a 3-pointer from Ratcliffe.
 
The Navy and Gold continued to work away at the margin and tied the contest at 39-all with 10 ticks left in the period on a jumper from Jamilah Sanders – the first deadlock of the contest, however, Bullard drained a layup at the buzzer to regain the lead for AUM.
 
Mississippi College drew in second tie of the game at 47-all with 4:30 left in the game on a fastbreak layup from Zariah Matthews. Avleeva knocked down a 3-pointer seconds later to reclaim the lead and AUM never trailed again despite MC cutting the lead within a point on two occasions down the stretch.
 

---

 
NEXT UP
Mississippi College returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 30 as it hosts Tougaloo College in non-conference action. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.