PENSACOLA, Fla. – Jaclyn Jarnot had a double-double and Jaden Langford scored a career-high but UWF fell to Valdosta State, 60-56, in a very exciting game at the UWF Field House on Sunday.
 
Jarnot turned in her ninth-consecutive double-double with 16 points, 16 rebounds and two steals, while Langford had 14 on 4-of-5 shooting and six free throws for UWF (5-5, 5-3 Gulf South).
 
"I thought we were trying to do too much and then when we settled in and started playing, the game got manageable," UWF head coach Stephanie Lawrence Yelton said. "I was proud of our team for fighting and getting in those moments, fighting our way back and taking the lead late in the game. But it took a lot of juice out of us to get to that point and we just couldn't hold the lead at the end."
 
After a very slow start that saw the Lady Blazers take a 14-2 lead out of the gate, the Argonauts ended up shooting 39 percent and led 49-48 with 4:09 to play.
 
VSU scored the next four points on a layup and free throws to go ahead 52-49 with 2:26 on the clock. The teams traded scores over the next 90 seconds before Taylor Searcey got a 3-point play to fall and put the visitors up 56-52 with 39.8 left. UWF was unable score on the ensuing possession and from there, the Lady Blazers made 4-of-6 at the line to keep the Argos two possessions away.
 
Searcey had a career-high 20 points to lead VSU (8-2, 7-1), who shot 39 percent and made four 3-pointers – the same number as UWF.
 
UWF had 11 turnovers in the first quarter and found itself trailing 17-11. The teams played an even 16-16 second quarter as VSU claimed a 33-27 edge going into the locker room.
 
The Argos used a 7-0 run to tie the game at 40 late in the third before the Lady Blazers scored the final six to pull ahead 46-40. UWF flipped that script to open the fourth, tying it at 46 5 minutes into the fourth with the first six points.
 
Zoe Piller finished with 10 points and four rebounds for UWF.
 
UWF will be off for the 10-day NCAA Division II Life In Balance break before returning to action at Montevallo on Saturday, Dec. 31. Tip-off at Trustmark Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m.