ROME, Ga. --- Mississippi College placed three players in double figures, but came up short at Shorter University, 69-67, on Friday, Dec. 16. MC moves to 3-9 and 2-7 in Gulf South Conference play while the Hawks improved to 1-10 and 1-7 in league play.
 
Kyiah Julian led the Choctaw triplets with 18 points. It is the eighth time this season the Greenwood, Ark., native has scored in double figures - the 28th of her career. With four 3-pointers in the game, she moved to fourth all-time in 3-pointers made. Freshmen Ava Knoedl and Grett Gardner joined the junior in double digits. Knoedl recorded 14 points while Gardner supplied 11. It is the third straight game in double figures for Knoedl, the reigning GSC Freshman of the Week, and the second for Gardner.
 
Danielle Tennant paced the squad on the glass as she pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds. Her previous was eight earlier this season against Auburn Montgomery. MC totaled 31 boards as a team and outrebounded the Blue and White by six in the contest.
 
The Blue and Gold knocked down 10 of its 25 3-pointers in the game (40.0%) and finished the night with a 37.1 clip from the field. It, however, connected on just 11 of its 19 free throws in the game for 57.9 percent.
 
SU used a strong, second half to pull off the victory as it outscored the Choctaw 42-35 over the final 20 minutes. MC held a 32-27 lead at the break and clung to a 45-43 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
 
The Choctaw maintained the advantage through much of the final period, including holding a seven-point lead with eight minutes to play, the Blue and White chipped away and grabbed knotted the game at 54-all behind a Tiara Lewis, old-fashion 3-point play with 5:21 left in the game. The Hawks took their first lead of the game nine ticks later as Katelyn Richards drove in for a layup. Gardner regained the lead for the Blue and Gold as she hit a trey off a feed from Knoedl with 4:49 left.
 
The two teams exchanged leads over the next four-plus minutes until SU's Richards scored off an assist from Kenley Woods with a minute and half to play in the contest, 62-61. A Derrica McCall 3-pointer expanded the margin to 65-61. MC cut the deficit to within one as Julian drained her fourth, 3-pointer of the game with 24 seconds left, but Woods iced the game for the homestanding Hawks as she connected on three of her final four free throws.
 
MC notched its largest lead of the game with 3:40 left to play in the first half as Julian drained a 3-pointer to place the squad up 29-18. However, SU closed out the final three-plus minutes on a 9-3 run to cut the gap to five points.
 
Richards paced the Hawks in scoring with 19 points while Lewis added 18. Lewis also led the team on the glass with five rebounds. The Blue and White shot 48 percent from the floor, including a 27.3 percent from behind the arc. It connected on 18-of-26 from the charity stripe for 69.2 percent.
 
Mississippi College returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 18 as it travels to the Volunteer State to face No. 23 Lee University. Tip is at 1 p.m. central.
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