WINCHESTER, Va. - — Shenandoah University suffered through a cold shooting afternoon in a 69-56 USA South Conference women's basketball loss to Ferrum College Saturday afternoon.

The Hornets (7-14, 3-8 USA South) took just five seconds to get the opening bucket of the contest, but Ferrum (10-11, 6-5) answered that Alicia Sanders bucket with a 10-0 run to take a lead it would not relinquish. 

After falling behind by as many as 12 points, SU got back into the game on the strength of an 8-0 spurt that brought the hosts to 21-17 with 9:09 remaining. FC pushed its lead back to nine before Shenandoah got it to a single possession, 26-23, by the 5:12 mark.

Unfortunately for the Hornets, this would be as close as they would come the rest of the way. The Lady Panthers finished the half on a 10-7 run and led by at least four points during the second half.

Shenandoah was able to keep the deficit to single digits for most of the second half until Tawanna McCall converted a pair of free throws with 6:53 remaining. McCall's pair ignited an 8-1 run that gave the visitors its largest lead, 19 points, with 3:50 to play. 

The Hornets shot 16 for 60 (26.7 percent) for the game while Ferrum converted 24 of its 67 opportunities. The Lady Panthers also owned a 52-48 advantage on the glass.

Sanders led all scorers with 19 points while Aline Alzime had 14 points and 14 rebounds for FC.

Box Score/Play by Play 

Shenandoah is back in action Sunday afternoon against Averett. Game time is 2:00. If there is a weather-related cancellation, the game will be played as part of a doubleheader on Monday at a time to be announced.