DAYTON, Tenn. – CIU women's basketball continued their January stretch of games on the road with a matchup against Bryan College (Tenn.) on Saturday. A win would have been the first win against Bryan College in program history, and the first half looked promising for the Rams. However, a second-half push from the Lions gave them the edge in the afternoon contest. CIU went down 76-61 and is now 7-10 on the year and 6-7 in conference play. 

The Rams found a bucket off a jumper from Somarian Webb to get the scoring going in the first quarter. A layup from Tearra Cook and a three-pointer from Jaylyn Twitty gave CIU seven points in the first two minutes of the game; however, Bryan battled back as CIU trailed by five after one. 

Hannah Wilkerson cut the Lions' lead to three with a layup shortly into the second period, which spurned on a solid second quarter for the Rams. CIU was unable to find an advantage in the period but tied the ball game up 36-36 before the half with a layup from Twitty. 

The Rams came out slow to start the second half and were outscored 23-11 in the third. Six of the 11 came from Wilkerson, and the other five came from Twitty. CIU entered the fourth trailing by 12 points. The largest lead of the game for the Lions came in the fourth at the 7:59 minute mark where they extended their lead 67-47. CIU made a small push and scored 14 more points before the final horn, but they were unable to hold off Bryan's offensive attack to find the lead. 

Zhani Thompson led the way for the Rams with 17 points, seven rebounds, one block, and one steal. Wilkerson continues to fill it up for CIU, with 16 points on the day as her average increased to 13.4 points per game. Twitty had a season-high of 14 points, along with three rebounds and one block. Off the bench, Mariah Leinbach scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds. 

As a team, the Rams went 23-of-67 (34.3%) from the field and 4-of-18 (22.2%) from behind the arc. However, CIU collected six steals and forced 14 turnovers. 

What Coach Danielle Fleming is saying: "I thought we played well for three quarters, but we had compound mistakes that cost us. Winning on the road has to be the focus this month." 

Up Next: CIU stays on the road and heads to Gainesville, Ga., to face off against Brenau University on Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 5:30 PM.