WALESKA, Ga. – The Reinhardt College women’s basketball team had a double-digit second-half lead on Thursday night but could not hold on in a 63-56 Southern States Athletic Conference loss to the Shorter College Lady Hawks at the James & Sis Brown Athletic Center. The first half featured eight lead changes and four ties with Reinhardt holding a 28-23 advantage at the intermission. The Lady Eagles led 36-24 early in the second half, but Shorter clawed back to take the lead for good at 39-38 with less than 11 minutes left in the contest.

Reinhardt committed just 10 turnovers, compared to 14 for the Lady Hawks. The Lady Eagles shot 37.1 percent (23-of-62) from the field while their guests finished at 42.1 percent (24-of-57). Reinhardt was outrebounded 44-33.

For the Lady Eagles, SSAC Freshman-of-the-Year candidate Kinsey Galyon (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored 14 points and had five rebounds while Newcomer-of-the-Year hopeful Nichole Willis (Meansville, Ga.) finished with 13 points, along with game highs of nine boards and two steals.

Reinhardt is 10-19 overall and 5-14 in conference play (tied for ninth place) while Shorter improves to 20-9 overall, including 13-6 in the SSAC (fourth). The Lady Eagles will need to win their final regular season contest – a conference matchup – on Saturday when hosting the Berry College Lady Vikings in order to have a chance to make the eight-team SSAC Tournament, which begins next week at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn.