After playing a good consistent half of basketball in the first and trailing only by one at halftime, the Lady Bears got out of rhythm in the second and had trouble slowing down visiting Gulf Coast, falling 58-44 Thursday on Sophomore Night.
 
"We did not get the outcome that we wanted," Southwest head coach Brent Harris said. "I thought that we executed well early but could not get enough rebounds or stops in the second half."
 
Southwest (15-10, 6-7 MACCC) went toe-to-toe with Gulf Coast early on. Even though they trailed for most of the opening quarter, the Lady Bears kept fighting and eventually tied the game at 11 with 1:00 to go.
 
Early in the second, the Lady Bulldogs displayed their powerful offense, putting Southwest down by as many as nine points. But the resilient Lady Bears would not go quietly, slowly chipping away at the lead and pulling to within one at 26-25 at the half.
 
The Lady Bears tied the game in the early stages of the third on shots from Courtney Bradford and Mookie Lampley, the latter's making it a 28-all game at the 8:49 mark.
 
Not even two minutes later, Nia Hardison splashed-in a 3-pointer giving Southwest its first lead of the game.
 
Unfortunately, though, it was a lead that the Lady Bears couldn't hold on to as the Lady Bulldogs pulled even two minutes later before grabbing the upper hand once again.
 
The shots kept falling for Gulf Coast as Southwest found itself down by 10 entering the final quarter.
 
In the fourth, the Lady Bears had difficulty slowing down the Lady Bulldog attack as the visitors maintained their lead before running out the clock.
 
Hardison led Southwest with 21 points.
 
The Lady Bears wrap the regular season Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in Senatobia against Northwest Mississippi.