ROME, Ga.-After squandering a 10-point halftime lead, the Christian Brothers University Lady Bucs rallied from a six-point deficit in the last two minutes to tie host Shorter, but turnovers on each of their last two possessions doomed the Lady Bucs to a 66-64 loss Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Bucs (2-5, 0-2 GSC) jumped to an early lead, opening the game on a 12-5 run capped by a Courtney Banks (Memphis, Tenn./White Station HS) triple with 12:54 remaining in the first half. After Shorter (5-3, 1-1) drew within 21-19 on a pair of Tatiana Allen free throws, the Lady Bucs answered with a 10-3 burst to open a 31-22 lead on a Rachel Lee (Jackson, Tenn./Jackson Christian School) free throw with 3:37 remaining. Banks sank a pair of free throws just before halftime to push the lead to 37-27, CBU's biggest edge of the day.

The Lady Hawks scored the first six points of the second half to pull within 37-33, and they never allowed CBU to pull away again. A 10-2 run late in the second half lifted Shorter to a 56-50 lead on an Ieshia Alexander free throw with 4:11 remaining. After the teams traded scores, a pair of Maggie Peeples free throws restored the Shorter lead to 63-57 with 1:28 remaining. Breanna Ridgell (Memphis, Tenn./White Station HS) answered with a jumper to trim the deficit to four, and after Shorter made one of two free throws, Emily Reeves (Somerville, Tenn./Fayette Academy) followed with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 64-62 with 56 seconds remaining. When Shorter missed again, Lee drew a foul on the rebound and sank two free throws to tie the game with 37 seconds remaining.

Alexander drew a handcheck foul with 17 seconds remaining and sank one of two free throws to break the tie. Shorter's Jackie Hudson stole the ball from CBU, sending Alexander back to the free throw line, where she again made one of two shots with eight seconds remaining. Hudson picked up another steal as time expired as the Lady Bucs tried to find Reeves on the baseline for the tying basket.

Ridgell paced the Lady Bucs with 24 points and seven rebounds, while Banks scored 16 and Taylor Pugh (Memphis, Tenn./Briarcrest Christian HS) added 12 before fouling out.

Peeples led Shorter with 13 points, and Alexander notched 11.

The Lady Bucs shot 41.8 percent (23-of-55) for the game to Shorter's 38.5 percent (20-of-52), but the Lady Hawks out-rebounded CBU 43-29, including a 15-8 edge on the offensive boards. CBU forced 11 Shorter turnovers while committing seven.

The Lady Bucs return to action Thursday night at 5 p.m. as they host Delta State.