by Sam Jones, Sports Information Student Assistant

AMERICUS, Ga. – The Georgia College women's basketball team's (16-11, 8-10 PBC)  comeback attempt fell short Saturday afternoon in Americus, losing 81-67 to Georgia Southwestern State University (12-13, 6-12 PBC) after four Hurricane starters finished with more than 12 points to help drop the Bobcats to fourth place in the western division of the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) standings with one game remaining in the regular season.

With the loss, Georgia College misses an opportunity to tie the University of North Georgia for the third-spot in the western division after the Nighthawks fell to Columbus State University 81-69. The Bobcats need a win and North Georgia loss on Wednesday, Feb. 24 to tie, and possibly overtake, third-place before the PBC Tournament begins on Saturday, Feb. 27 with quarterfinal-round games hosted by the top-two seeds from each division.

Georgia College led only once, after making the game's first basket with 9:47 remaining in the first quarter. Georgia Southwestern's offense exploded after the basket, and the Hurricanes out-scored the Bobcats 24-10 in the first quarter. Georgia Southwestern would continue to push their lead all the way to 26 by the third-quarter before the Bobcats fought back with a 28-point fourth-quarter to give the game its final 14-point margin.

The Bobcats were out-shot 45 percent to 33.3 percent from the field by the Hurricanes, and were out-rebounded 54 to 37, but did look strong from behind the arc, shooting 41.2 percent from deep.

LaRice Walker (Franklin) was the catalyst today for the 'Cats, finishing with a game-high 23 points after an impressive shooting night, ending 7-of-15 from the field and 8-of-12 from the line. The junior guard also added five boards, three assists and three steals to her final line.

Mckenna Rushton (Gainesville) and Lindsey Reed (Stockbridge) ended with solid numbers as well.

Rushton picked up 13 points on the night, while also grabbing five boards and two steals, while Reed finished with 10 points after going 6-of-6 from the line.

Meanwhile, Alyah McGriff (Suwanee) snatched a team-high nine rebounds.

The Bobcats are back in action for their final regular-season game Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 5:30 p.m. as Georgia College travels to take on Lander University.

The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup,sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at @GCBobcats on social media for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit GCBobcats.PhotoReflect.com to purchase photo prints from home athletic contests