STATESBORO, Ga. — Lauren Gross finished with a career-high 20 points and drained six 3-point baskets, but the ULM women's basketball team (9-5, 1-2 Sun Belt Conference) fell to Georgia Southern (12-3, 2-1) on Saturday (Jan. 6) at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Ga.
 
Georgia Southern's Terren Ward scored seven points in the final minute of the game to lift the Eagles to a 69-66 home win. Her 3-pointer with less than one second on the clock sealed the conference win for Georgia Southern.
 
ULM shot 40% from three-point range and made 10 shots from beyond the arc. The Warhawks held the Eagles to 36.6% shooting from the field and 30.4% from three-point range. Georgia Southern outrebounded the Warhawks 48-41, with the Eagles securing 17 offensive boards. Both teams forced 19 turnovers with ULM collecting 11 steals.
 
Gross, a graduate transfer from Southern Miss, started the game with 15 first-half points on five buckets from long distance. She finished 6-for-9 from downtown and added a pair of rebounds to go along with a steal and an assist. Daisha Bradford posted 13 points and had a team-high nine rebounds and four assists while Sania Wells netted 10 points and five rebounds. Jakayla Johnson registered nine points and grabbed five boards.
 
After the Eagles took a 5-0 lead, Gross made her first three-point attempt of the afternoon and got the Warhawks on the scoreboard. Georgia Southern scored seven second-chance points within the first four minutes and took an early six-point lead. Jumpers from Bradford and Wells trimmed the Georgia Southern lead to two points. The Eagles pushed their lead to double-digits after an 8-0 scoring run and forced a ULM timeout. A steal by Kyjai Miles led to a fastbreak layup by Manuel that ended the Georgia Southern run. ULM crept within five points of GSU's lead when Olivia Knight made a floater with one minute in the first. The Eagles scored the final four points of the quarter and held a 21-12 lead at the end of one period.
 
Georgia Southern extended its lead to 13 at the start of the second quarter. Johnson fought through contact and scored a bucket with a foul that made the score 26-16. Bradford delivered a pass to Gross for a triple that brought ULM within nine points at the 5:33 mark. Following a GSU jump shot, Johnson drew a foul and drained a pair of free throws to bring ULM within seven points. Gross nailed 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and ULM stormed back to within one point of the Eagles' lead with 1:11 to go. Johnson gave ULM its first lead of the game on two free throws with 47 seconds in the quarter. Gross capped off the quarter with her fifth 3-pointer of the half before the buzzer that was assisted by Knight and the Warhawks held a 34-30 lead at the break.
 
ULM continued to roll in the third quarter and scored the first five points of the period. A free throw by Bradford and buckets by Gross and Wells pushed ULM's lead to nine. The Eagles managed to close the gap to five points at the 6:48 mark. A pair of free throws and a 3-pointer by Wells bumped the Warhawks lead to double digits for the first time in the contest with less than six minutes left in the quarter. Bradford dished out a pass to a wide-open Gross, who sank her seventh 3-point bucket of the game to record her 20^th point of the afternoon. Bradford converted her first 3-pointer of the game giving ULM its largest lead, 52-38. Knight cut through the lane for a driving layup with less than a minute on the clock to keep the Warhawks ahead by 14. ULM clung to a 54-44 lead at the end of three quarters of play.
 
The Eagles narrowed ULM's lead to six points after the opening three minutes of the final quarter. Brianna Harris knocked down her first 3-pointer to keep ULM in front, 59-50. After Georgia Southern trimmed the lead to four, Harris stepped up with another triple, and the Warhawks led 63-56 down the stretch. With under 2:30 on the clock, Bradford split inside the lane and finished a layup plus a foul to keep it a 65-59 ULM advantage.
 
The Eagles roared back and trimmed the Warhawks' lead to one point with 34 seconds to go. Bradford converted a free throw with 11 seconds on the timer to make the score 66-64. On the ensuing Georgia Southern possession, the Eagles turned the ball over to flip possession back to ULM. GSU forced a ULM turnover on the next play and Ward evened the score at 66 with four seconds to go. Ward stole the ULM inbounds pass and fired a three that dropped in before the final buzzer. ULM dropped a heartbreaker on the road, 69-66.
 
The Warhawks return to Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Thursday (Jan. 11) and will host South Alabama at 5 p.m. in Monroe.