ROME, Ga. – Montevallo women's basketball snapped a four-game losing streak with a 72-67 win over Shorter on the road to improve to 12-10 on the season.
 
Montevallo jumped out to a 7-4 lead after starting the game with Anna Katherine Eastman notching four points in back-to-back possessions. Lia Edwards found an easy bucket on an outlet pass from Leisha Steger with 4:01 to put the Falcons up 11-6 in the early going. A Cali Smallwood three on the next Montevallo possession opened a 14-8 lead before Ramie Reid nailed a pair of free throws to start her return from injury. Moments later, Smallwood went on a one-woman five-point run to lift the Falcons to a 21-11 lead with 1:18 to play.
 
With Montevallo leading 21-13 heading into the second, Eastman lost her defender on a step-through move to extend the Falcon lead. Shorter ended a quick 5-0 Montevallo run with a bucket in the paint at the 7:34 mark. MaKayla Gordons first points of the day ended a near two-minute scoreless stretch for the Falcons with 5:18 to play in the half. In consecutive touches, Savannah Cook knocked down a pair of threes in her first minute on the floor to put the Falcons up 34-21 with 5:00 to play. Shorter cut the Falcons' lead down to seven at the 1:11 mark before Snodgrass ended the half with a floater to give the Falcons a nine-point lead at the half.
 
The Falcons struggled to shoot the ball out of the half with Shorter cutting the lead down to five in the opening minute of the half before a Smallwood put-back ended the early run. The two sides traded threes before another 4-0 run cut the lead down to two points with 5:54 to play. Smallwood ended the run again, this time with a triple, before Shorter made it a one-point game with a successful trip to free throw line. A Reid and-one extended Montevallo's lead out to 52-48 with 2:40 to go. Shorter ended quarter with a finish through contact to head into the fourth quarter with a 54-53 Montevallo lead.
 
Smallwood nailed three from the left wing with 8:32 to play for Montevallo's tenth three of the game to extend Montevallo's lead out to 59-53 to force a Shorter timeout. Shorter answered with a three of its own before Smallwood added a second fourth-quarter three from the same spot with 6:37 to play. At the end of the shot clock, Snodgrass drained a long three with 3:52 on the clock to stretch Montevallo's lead back to 10. Reid added her second bucket of the game with a tough finish but couldn't convert the old-fashioned three-point play to put the Falcons up by nine with two minutes left. A Shorter three late in the game cut the lead down to seven with less than a minute to play but the Falcons held control for the final minute to take a 72-67 win on the road.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Montevallo 72 | Shorter 67
Records: Montevallo 12-10 (10-9 GSC) | Shorter 2-20 (1-17 GSC)
Location: Winthrop-King Centre | Rome, Ga.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
1^ST | The Falcons opened the game with a 46.7 percent mark from the floor for 21 points in the opening quarter. With a 3-for-6 mark from long range, Montevallo went to the second with a 21-13 lead over the Hawks.
2^ND | The Falcons mirrored the shooting mark from the first quarter while added another triple for a 4-for-6 mark from deep. With eight points in the second, Marisa Snodgrass led the squad on a 3-for-5 mark from the field.  
3^RD | Montevallo struggled shooting in the third quarter with the Hawks outscoring 23-15 in the quarter. The Hawks shot 61 percent from the field in the third with Montevallo going 5-for-19.
4^TH | The Falcons finished the game with a 33.3-percent shooting clip in the fourth quarter with a 6-for-18 mark from the floor while allowing Shorter to shoot 36.4 percent on a 4-for-11 clip.
 
GAME NOTES

• Montevallo's Cali Smallwood and Marisa Snodgrass led the game with 19 points apiece with Snodgrass shooting 7-for-13 and Smallwood going 7-for-15 in the game.
• The Falcons led the game for 38 minutes of action with Shorter leading for the first minute of the game.
• Montevallo lost the rebounding battle 35-31 with Montevallo taking a 15-12 advantage on the offensive glass.
• The Falcons finished the game with a 52.2 percent mark from three-point range with a 12-for-23 clip from deep.

 
UP NEXT: Montevallo heads to Memphis, Tenn. for a date with Christian Brothers on Thursday, Feb. 15 with tipoff set for 5 p.m.