Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team dropped another close contest on Tuesday evening, falling to the Lady Hornets of Emporia State 65-59.

The Bearcats and Lady Hornets had a back-and-forth battle during the first half of the contest. The Bearcats jumped out to an early 10-3 lead off of a layup by Brittney Dukes but the Lady Hornets would fight back to take a one point lead, a trend that would continue for a majority of the game. The Bearcats would once again push their lead to six with 8:35 to go in the first half (20-14), but Emporia State trimmed the lead back to two to put SBU up 31-29 going into the break.

In the second half SBU came out shooting well, pushing their lead back to eight with 15:10 to go in the game (39-31), but Emporia State responded to take the lead. The game would go back-and-forth until Emporia State would take the lead for good with 7:21 left in the contest. The Bearcats would fight back, cutting the lead down to five with 20 seconds left, but Emporia State would hold on for the 65-59 victory.

Jacqui Zelenka gave SBU her sixth double-double on the season with a team high 15 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. Brittney Dukes had 12 points in the contest, while Chasity Prince added 11 points and 6 rebounds in the game. As a team SBU shot 34.9% from the field, 15.8% from beyond the arc, and 75.0% from the free throw line.

"I thought that Jacqui really battled inside for us tonight," head coach Todd Voss stated after the game. "We did a good job on the boards and statistically there are a number of things we did better, but you have to clean up a couple of our turnovers; that numbers too high. We have to be able to handle the physicality and fight through to the finish. We will be excited to get back to it on Saturday night."

The Bearcats will return home on Saturday, January 12 when they are set to host the Riverhawks of Northeastern State. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. from the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.