Box Score MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Montevallo women's basketball fell in a hard-fought battle with Mississippi College, 75-72, on Saturday afternoon.
 
Mississippi College jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the early stages of the first quarter before Marisa Snodgrass ended the run with a triple at the 6:34 mark. The two sides traded two sets of free throws to leave Montevallo trailing 11-8. With 3:08 on the clock, freshman Cali Smallwood knocked down a jumper from long range to tie the game at 11 with her first points of the afternoon. The Falcons took a 14-11 lead into the second quarter following a Savannah Cook three in the closing moments of the half.
 
Snodgrass opened the second quarter with six-straight Montevallo points with a pair of long range jumpers to give the Falcons a 20-13 lead with 8:08 on the clock. Freshman forward Lia Edwards added to the Falcons' advantage after going coast-to-coast and converting an old fashioned three-point play with 6:48 on the clock before MC cut the lead down to one possession with 6:05 to play. A.K. Eastman's first bucket of the game ended a quick run from the Lady Choctaws just before the second quarter media timeout. MC cut the Falcons eight-point lead down to two after the Falcons went scoreless in the final 4:16 of the half.
 
MC took a 31-30 lead on the first possession of the second half before another Edwards and-one regained the Falcons' control on the scoreboard. The Lady Choctaws tied the game up at 33 apiece before Cook sparked a 9-2 Montevallo run with five-straight points for the Falcons. Eastman nailed a three in the corner to open a 7-point lead for Montevallo before Smallwood erased a pair of MC free throws by finishing through contact. MC added a bucket with 1:33 to head into the fourth with a 46-41 Montevallo lead.
 
MC erased the Falcons lead early in the fourth with a 13-2 run in the opening two minutes. Leisha Steger's three pointer from the corner end the early run and brought the Falcons back within two at 54-52 with 7:16 to go. Following a near two-minute scoring drought from both sides, Smallwood gave Montevallo a 55-54 with 4:52 on the clock with an old-school three-point play. The lead traded hands over the next two minutes before the two sides each made a pair of technical free throws. MC took a three-point lead with 2:55 on the clock with a mid-range jumper. An MC three-pointer lifted the Lady Choctaws to a 67-61 lead with 57.9 to go. Smallwood nailed a triple from the left wing to cut into a five-point MC lead with 34 seconds to play. Snodgrass pulled up from deep with 18-seconds to play to cut the lead down to 72-69. The graduate followed it up with another deep three to make it a one-possession game with 9.5 on the clock. Montevallo turned it over with a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds to fall 75-72 on Saturday afternoon.  
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Montevallo 75 | Mississippi College 72
Records: Montevallo 11-10 (9-9 GSC) | Mississippi College 8-12 (7-10 GSC)
Location: Central State Bank Arena | Montevallo, Ala.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
1^ST | Montevallo struggled to score in the first 10 minutes with a 23.1-percent shooting clip but a 3-for-8 mark from long range gave Montevallo a 14-11 lead heading into the second.
2^ND | The Falcons found a rhythm in the second quarter with a 5-for-15 mark from the floor and a 42-percent shooting mark from beyond the arc. The Falcons ended the half on a 4:16 scoring drought and went into the locker room with a 30-28 lead.
3^RD | Montevallo outscored MC by three in the third quarter by holding the Lady Choctaws to a 26.7-percent shooting mark in the third. Cook lead all scorers in the third with seven points on 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.
4^TH | Montevallo finished the game with a 43.8-percent shooting clip in the final stanza while shooting 4-for-10 from three-point land. The Falcons were outscored by eight points in the final quarter with MC shooting 15-for-17 from the line.
 
GAME NOTES

• MC controlled the paint with a 28-14 advantage in scoring inside.
• The Falcons bench was productive in the outing with 18 points coming from the reserves.
• Montevallo won the rebounding battle 38-37 with Montevallo grabbing 16 offensive rebounds.
• Cali Smallwood led the Falcons in scoring with 17 points on 6-of-13 from the floor to go along with 10 boards for her fourth double-double of the season.
• Lia Edwards got to the free-throw line often going 10-for-12 from the stripe while scoring a total of 14 points and recording eight rebounds.

 
UP NEXT: Montevallo heads to Rome, Ga. on Thursday, Feb. 8 to take on Shorter at 4:30 p.m.