Riverside, Calif. - The Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team had a tough neutral match-up against the NAIA's #3 Vanguard, as the Bearcats comeback bid came up just short in a 63-66 loss.

The contest remained tight throughout the first half, with neither team leading by more than six points. Vanguard jumped out to the early lead, before SBU took their first lead of the game at the 13:37 mark in the first half, a lead they would maintain until the 5:18 mark. Vanguard would go on a small run to take a slight 30-26 advantage into halftime. In the second half Vanguard would lead by as many as 13 before SBU started to chip away at the lead. With just over a minute left, and down seven, Brook Duncan nailed a three to pull SBU within four at 61-65. After a Bearcat foul and two missed Vanguard free throws, SBU would cut the lead to two with two made free throws from Duncan with 39 seconds remaining. Vanguard would hit one of two free throws to push the lead to 66-63 with 38 seconds remaining, but the Bearcats were unable to hit a three to send the game to overtime.

The Bearcats had strong individual performances on the evening, lead by Chasity Prince who scored 15 points and had a career high 16 rebounds. Jacqui Zelenka joined Prince with another double-double as Zelenka had 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Brook Duncan scored a team high 18 points and Brittney Dukes added 11 in the loss. As a team SBU shot 34.8% from the field and 30.0% from the free throw line. SBU out-rebounded Vanguard 50-33, but had 17 turnovers compared to 7 from VU.

SBU will return to action tomorrow, Tuesday, December 18 when they play the host school California Baptist. Tip-off is set for 9:30 CST from Riverside, California.