BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UWF Argonauts staged a thrilling second-half comeback before suffering a cold shooting spell at the worst time and fell to No. 13 Union, 67-59, in the semifinals of the Gulf South Conference Women's Basketball Championship at the Pete Hanna Center Saturday.
 
After trailing by as many as 13 in the first half, UWF battled back and took a 5-point lead with 6:56 left in the game before being outscored 13-0 to close the contest.
 
UWF (22-7) made four second-half 3-pointers and shot 53 percent in the third quarter but missed its last 15 shots as it was looking for its fifth trip to the league championship game.
 
Zoe Piller led the team with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting with nine rebounds. Haylee Luttrell made three 3-pointers and added 13 points while Jaclyn Jarnot had 10 of her 12 points in the second half to help the comeback.
 
UWF has the conference's top field goal defense and held Union (25-3) to 29 percent shooting overall and 9-of-32 from outside for 28 percent. Both figures are well below their 45 percent field goal and 37 percent 3-point efforts coming into the game.
 
Shanique Lucas and Samariah Thompson led the Lady Bulldogs with 17 points each.
 
Union gained the early momentum, closing the first quarter on an 8-0 run for a 21-13 advantage.
 
The margin stayed around 10 points for the majority of the second quarter.  Luttrell hit a corner three to pull within eight and just missed one on the Argos' next possession that would have made it a 5-point game. Instead, the Lady Bulldogs scored the final three of the half, including a layup as time expired off an inbounds pass for a 39-28 lead.
 
UWF immediately went to work in the second half chipping away at the deficit. Luttrell capped a 7-2 run with a layup three minutes into the period. After going back and forth the next six minutes, the Argos got a left wing three from Luttrell and two free throws from Claire Sutherland-Case to pull within 54-52 going into the fourth.
 
The run continued as UWF got back-to-back triples from Jarnot and Luttrell to surge ahead 58-54 with 8:30 to play. They added a free throw from Jennifer Andrew for a 5-point lead at the 6:56 mark but weren't able to score the rest of the game.
 
Union battled back and took a 61-59 lead with 1:31 left on a Thompson 3-pointer from the corner. After the teams traded turnovers, UWF had the ball with 35 seconds remaining. Luttrell had two good looks from outside and Jarnot missed a jumper before the Argos were forced to foul after the Lady Bulldogs got the rebound.
 
Union ended the game on a 13-0 run.

UWF will now wait to see if it will be invited to the NCAA Division II Tournament when the field of 64 is announced on Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. Central Time on ncaa.com.