CULLOWHEE, N.C. — The Georgia Southern Lady Eagles held a nine-point lead in the first half, but fell 51-45 to Western Carolina Monday at the Ramsey Center.
    Samantha Williams and Logan Youngblood tallied 10 points each in the game, while Aishya Wofford scored seven points and pulled down seven boards.
    “First eight or nine minutes of the ballgame we played good but after that we did not play well,” said Lady Eagles Head Coach Rusty Cram.
    Youngblood scored just one point shy of her career-high of 11 points set against Chattanooga.
    “Logan gave us some good minutes tonight and really stepped up tonight,” said Cram.
    Georgia Southern (11-14, 8-8) drained four treys in the game and finished just one shy of tying the school record for 3-pointers in a season. The Lady Eagles have hit 164 3s this season and need two more to break the record of 165 set back in 2006-07.
    Rena Wakama led Western Carolina (7-19, 5-12) with 15 points, while Kaila'Shea Menendez scored 10 points. Caitlin Hollifield added eight more and pulled down seven of her team-leading eight rebounds in the second half.
    Williams and Youngblood led Georgia Southern with seven points each in the first half. Meredyth Frye chipped in four points and three rebounds. Caitlin Hollifield paced Western Carolina with eight points in the first period.
    Georgia Southern trailed early in the first half but grabbed its first lead of the game at the 14:41 mark on a layup by Williams. Youngblood extended the Lady Eagles lead to five points, 15-10, on a trey with 10:45 remaining. Georgia Southern capped off a 9-0 run with another layup by Williams and pulled ahead 19-10.
    Western Carolina rallied back and tied the game at 20-20 on a 3-pointer by Menendez with 3:46 remaining in the first period. The Lady Eagles responded with a 3 of their own. Williams connected on her first trey of the game and put Georgia Southern back on top 23-20 with 3:29 to play.
    The Catamounts drained three-straight field goals and pulled ahead in the final minutes to lead 26-24 at the break.
    Georgia Southern battled back in the second half and tied the game at 31-31 on a Youngblood 3 with 13:36 remaining in the game. Western Carolina quickly retook the lead and never let go.
    Georgia Southern returns home Wednesday to face Charleston in the conclusion of the season series with the Cougars. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Hanner Fieldhouse.