CLEVELAND, Miss. – The UWF women's basketball team found itself in a second-half deficit but was unable to complete the comeback, falling to Delta State, 57-56, at Sillers Coliseum on Saturday.

UWF trailed by 12 at the half and by as many as 16 in the third quarter. But they battled back and trailed by one in the final seconds. Coming out of a timeout, the Argonauts had three chances at the game-winning basket but were unable to get the key bucket. Moriah Taylor missed an 18-foot jumper and then Ericka Wiseley and Brooke Kane each had attempts with a lot of contact in a very congested restricted area as time expired.

UWF (12-7, 9-6 Gulf South) shot just 36 percent and was 9-of-14 at the free throw line. Tyashia Bostick led all players with a game-high 20 points, scoring 15 in the second half. Brooke Kane had nine points and a team-high six rebounds.

DSU (9-10, 7-8) was not any better with a 35 percent night from the floor, but benefited from 15-of-19 at the foul line. AJ McCandlis scored a career-high 16 to lead the Lady Statesmen.

UWF started the contest with some good play, holding a 6-4 lead early. DSU countered with 7-0 run for a 11-6 lead before the teams went to the benches tied at 17. The Argos trailed for much of the second and pulled to within one on a layup with 3:02 remaining. Then the Lady Statesmen ended the half on an 11-0 run for the 40-28 lead.

The Argos trimmed the deficit to seven at the end of the third and to five two minutes into the fourth. But DSU pushed the lead back to 10 with 5:30 on the clock. UWF scored the next nine points, capping the run on a baseline jumper by Bostick with 41 seconds left.

The Argos got a defensive stop and then called time out with nine tics to play that setup the final sequence.

UWF will conclude its 3-game road swing with a trip to West Georgia (11-8, 7-8) on Wednesday night. The game at the UWG Coliseum will start at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time.