PENSACOLA, Fla. – Despite outscoring West Florida 23-14 in the fourth quarter, the Delta State University women's basketball team's comeback bid fell just short, as the Argonauts slipped past a pesky DSU team 54-50 in Gulf South Conference action on Tuesday night at the UWF Field House. 

THE BASICS:

Score: West Florida 54, Delta State 50
Records: Lady Statesmen (5-9, 3-5 GSC) | West Florida (10-4, 5-2 GSC) 
Date: Tues., Jan. 9 | 5:30 P.M.
Location: UWF Field House | Pensacola, Fla. 
Series: Series is tied 12-12
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TURNING POINT:
 

• West Florida shot 31 free throws, and hit 22 of them, including going 11-of-17 in the fourth quarter alone, to stymie the Lady Statesmen comeback bid.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
 

• Delta State made 19 of its 62 shots, finishing at 31 percent for the contest. The Lady Statesmen went just 5-of-19 from three (26 percent) and went 7-of-10 from the free throw line.
• The Argonauts shot 36 percent (15-of-42) percent from the floor, and went just 2-of-10 from three-point territory. UWF was 22-31 (71 percent) from the free throw line. 
• West Florida edged Delta State on the glass 40-36, but DSU had 12 offensive rebounds to UWF's six. 
• The Lady Statesmen outscored the Argonauts on second chance points 14-2.
• Delta State outscored UWF 29-28 in the second half, including 23-14 in the fourth quarter. 
• Alondea Rush led the Lady Statesmen with 17 points, and added three rebounds, two assists and two steals. 
• Takisha Jordan added 12 points and three rebounds.
• Halee Nieman led the way for West Florida, tallying a double-double of 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Argonauts. 
• Imani Mulmore added 12 points and two assists in 19 minutes for the home team. 

 INSIDE THE FLOW:
 

• West Florida jumped out to a 7-4 lead at the first quarter media timeout, and outscored the Lady Statesmen 11-5 over the final 4:50 of the first quarter to take an 18-9 lead after one quarter of play.
• The Lady Statesmen opened the second quarter on a 12-5 run, using a three-pointer from Maddy Sheraka, a three from Erin Kate Richardson and a layup from Takisha Jordan to pull within two points, 23-21, with 5:21 to play before the half. 
• UWF held Delta State scoreless for the rest of the quarter, but DSU countered by holding UWF to just one field goal over that span as the Argonauts held the 26-21 lead going into the halftime intermission. 
• West Florida jumped out on a 6-2 run to start the third quarter, and outscored the Lady Statesmen 14-6 overall in that span to take their largest lead of the game, a 40-27 advantage, to the fourth quarter. 
• Delta State used a 10-5 run, sparked by a pair of three-pointers from Alondrea Rush, to cut the lead down to eight points, 45-37 UWF, with 6:22 to play.
• WIth 3:05 to go and down 50-40, DSU went on a 10-3 run to cut the lead all the way down to three points, 53-50, with four seconds to play, on the back of 13 second half points from Rush.
• UWF's Jade Davis hit one of two free throws with 4.1 seconds on the clock to ice the 54-50 win for West Florida. 

NOTABLES:
 

• Takisha Jordan tallied 12 points for DSU, scoring in double-figures for the twelve time in the 13 games she has played this season. 
• Alondrea Rush's 14 points marks the eighth time this year the junior has put up 14 or more points in a game this year.
• The Lady Statesmen held the Argos to eight second quarter points, marking the 10th time in the team's first 14 games that they've held an opposing offense to a single-digit quarter. 

 
UP NEXT:

Delta State returns to Walter Sillers Coliseum to host Montevallo and West Alabama. The Lady Statesmen and Montevallo play at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13, and welcome the Tigers of West Alabama on Monday, Jan. 15 at 5:30 p.m.