(Fayetteville, NC) -  After giving up a second-half lead, the Lady Bears had to fight their way back into the game, and fell just a bucket short of a win, losing to Fayetteville State 69-67 in a game played at Capel Arena on the campus of Fayetteville State.

Shaw (12-9, 5-5 CIAA) held a seven-point lead as late as 12:26 left in the game, but Fayetteville State (6-13, 4-6 CIAA) ran off a 16-4 scoring run late in the second to build a lead.  The Lady Bears would fight back, but came up short when Allyssa Lane's last-second shot banged off the rim.

In the first,  the Lady Bears built an early lead.  With 12:07 left in the half, Lane hit a three to give Shaw a seven-point, 13-6, lead.  LaQuasha Jordan scored seven unanswered points  in less than a minute for the Lady Broncos - two threes, and a foul shot - to tie the score at the 11:12. 

With 3:33 left in the half, the Lady Broncos took a three-point lead on layup by Amanda Sinclair, but Jackie Sanders hit a three to answer, again tying the score, this time at 22 points.    The two teams would battle evenly for the next minute - tying the score two more times.

With 34 seconds left and the score tied at 26, Aslea Williams went on a five-point spree for the Lady Bears, giving them a 31-26 lead at the half.

In the second, the Lady Bears extended their lead to seven on the first bucket of the half.  Fayetteville State would not significantly cut into that lead until they went on an 8-2 scoring run to tie the game at 49 with 10:05 left. 

Three Shaw free throws over the next 90 seconds would give them a 52-49 lead, but Fayetteville State then launched a 16-4 scoring run including nine points from Capricia Smalls to build a 65-56 lead with 5:01 left.

With 4:03 left, and still down nine points, Shaw went on a scoring run of their own, reeling off seven straight points and cutting the lead to two on Jackie Sanders two free throws with 1:08 left in the game.

Neither team scored for another 40 seconds, when Smalls hit a free throw with 23 seconds left on the clock to give Fayetteville the 68-65 lead.  Williams drove to the bucket, missed the shot, but was fouled.  She sank both free throws to cut the lead to one with five seconds on the clock.

Shaw fouled immediately on the inbounds play and Smalls hit one of two free throws with four seconds remaining to give Fayetteville a 69-67 lead.  Allyssa Lane took the inbounds for Shaw, drove the lane, but missed the layup, leaving the final at 69-67.

With the CIAA's second-leading scorer suspended for violating team rules, Shaw's scoring came from players normally known for supporting roles.  Williams led the Lady Bears with 25 points and nine rebounds.  Lane had 17 points and led Shaw with five assists.  Sanders had ten points.

Jordan led the Lady Broncos with 20 points, while Smalls had 14.  Amanda Sinclair led Fayetteville State with six rebounds and Nia Trawick had five assists to pace her team.

 Shaw returns home Saturday, February 5 when they will host division leader Johnson C. Smith at 6:00 p.m.

Photos:  Aslea Williams (left) goes up for a layup in the second half against FSU.  Allyssa Lane (right) drives toward the basket in the first half.