Albany State women fall to Spring Hill

ALBANY — The trend seems to be to dig themselves in a big hole, then spend an enormous amount of energy trying to get back into the game.

The Albany State women did exactly that again Saturday afternoon in a 54-47 loss to Spring Hill College at the HPER Gymnasium.

After trailing by as many as 11 in the third quarter, the Lady Rams charged back and trimmed the deficit to five on a basket from Aniefiok Udofia with 5:18 left in the game. But that was as close as ASU could get.

Albany State lost despite playing excellent defense and holding Spring Hill to just 28 percent (14 of 50) shooting from the floor. The Lady Rams also forced 22 turnovers, but they couldn’t take advantage.

It was the eighth straight setback for ASU (1-13, 1-4 SIAC), who lost the second of a four-game homestand.

“I don’t have a problem losing when we’re playing good basketball,” coach Robert Skinner said. “But we’re losing and not playing good basketball.”

Elesha Foster’s double-double led the Lady Rams. She finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Zuri Frost added 10 points. Kayla Green finished with nine.

Albany State shot poorly in the first and third quarters, shooting 27 percent in the two periods. But the worst statistic was the free throw shooting as the Lady Rams finished at 44 percent (8 of 18).

“The most discouraging part is the lack of inconsistencies in what we’re doing,” Skinner said. “They know exactly what to do … they do it everyday in practice.”

After trailing 27-18 at halftime, Albany State tried to mount a comeback to open the second half. Green drilled a 3-pointer at the 5:15 mark to trim the deficit to 29-26, but Spring Hill responded with a 6-1 run to extend its lead.

The Lady Rams never seriously challenged from there.

Albany State will play host to Clark-Atlanta Monday night at the HPER Gymnasium at 5:30 p.m.