WINCHESTER, Va. - The SU women's basketball team shook off a slow start to defeat USA South Conference rival Ferrum College 77-68 and extend its season long winning streak to four games.

The Hornets (11-12 overall, 8-6 USA South) fell behind early due to the run-and-gun offense and smothering defense of the Lady Panthers (13-10, 9-5), but made up a 35-26 halftime deficit with a strong final 20 minutes.

Shenandoah opened the second half with a 12-6 run that was capped off by a Joia Davis (Trenton, N.J./Stuart Co.) 3-pointer at the 14:52 mark to close the gap to three points, 41-38.

The two teams battled back and forth for the next eight minutes when SU took advantage of Ferrum foul trouble to pull away. The Lady Panthers Shermika Harris and Aline Alzime both fouled out in the waning moments. Harris had dominated inside play with 16 rebounds while Alzime had 15.

SU clinched the victory with a solid job at the foul line down the stretch. Junior Jenny Gray (Sumerduck, Va./Liberty), who had been dishing out pinpoint assists all afternoon, rose to the occasion and converted four of five shots from the stripe in the final three minutes.

Harris and Alzime each finished with a double-double despite fouling out as they earned 12 points with 16 boards and 14 points with 15 boards, respectively.

Setting the pace for the Hornets were sophomore Dee Fisher (Arlington, Va./Hayfield) with 20 points and Gray who netted 11 points in addition to her eight assists.

A complete boxscore may be located at: http://www.su.edu/athletics/wb/200304/su-fcw.htm

SU will now travel down to Fayetteville, N.C. for the opening game of a double header with Methodist at 2:00 PM this Saturday afternoon.