COLUMBIA, Ky. – The Lindsey Wilson women's basketball team dropped a highly-competitive top-10 matchup against Shawnee State (Ohio) 76-70 on Saturday afternoon at Biggers Sports Center.

Ninth-ranked Lindsey Wilson (20-5, 7-3 Mid-South Conference) led by three with two and a half minutes to play, but the Blue Raiders were unable to score the remainder of the contest as Shawnee State (23-3, 10-0 MSC) closed things on a 9-0 run to avoid the upset.

Kayla Styles poured in a career-high 38 points in the loss, just five shy of matching the program's single-game record. She also grabbed 11 rebounds and added five assists, part of her 15th double-double of the year. Molly Stone finished two points shy of a double-double as she collected 10 rebounds. Reagan Turner had eight points and Gerda Paulauskaite had seven points and seven rebounds, adding three steals.

It was a back-and-forth contest for the full 40 minutes as the game was tied 12 times and the lead was exchanged 16 times.

Lindsey Wilson went from 5-4 down to up 9-5 after a pair of Teanna Curry free throws and a Turner 3-pointer. Shawnee State retook the lead at 12-11, but that brought a response from LWC in the form of a 10-2 run to take a 21-14 lead late in the first. The Bears had a response of their own ready and came back with a 12-3 run that lasted from the 0:42 mark of the first quarter to the 5:12 mark of the second as Shawnee State took the lead back at 26-24. LWC once again grabbed the lead back at 34-30 with the help of a pair of offensive rebounds and putbacks by Stone with 1:57 to play in the half. Shawnee State scored the next seven points though before a Styles basket brought the score at the half to 37-36, Shawnee State.

Lindsey Wilson shot 45.7 percent (16-35) compared to 46.2 percent (12-26) by Shawnee State. The Bears, who rank in the top-10 in the NAIA in 3-point field goal percentage, missed all five of their attempts from deep while LWC hit just 1-of-8. The Bears excelled at the charity stripe though as they hit 13-of-14 from the line while LWC managed just 3-of-7.

Shawnee State quickly extended its lead to start the second half, stretching it to seven points at 49-42, the largest of the game for the Bears. Lindsey Wilson continued to battle from behind and use strong defensive efforts to pull things back level as Paulauskaite stole a pass and fed it up to Styles for the layup to make it 53-53. Paulauskaite later hit two free throws to give LWC back the lead, but the Bears pulled back ahead 58-57 by the end of the third.

The fourth quarter was another back-and-forth affair as the two teams continued to trade the lead. A Turner jumper to start the frame put LWC ahead 59-58, but Shawnee State took the lead back at 63-61 with 5:07 to play. Two Jynea Harris free throws put the Blue Raiders back out front, but the Bears tied it again at 65-65. On the ensuing possession, Styles drained a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired, just the second made three of the game for LWC, putting the Blue Raiders back in front 68-65. Stone scored on a dump pass from Styles with 2:24 to play to make it 70-67, but that would be the last time LWC would score in the contest. Four-straight points put SSU ahead at 71-70. Following a Blue Raider miss on the next possession, Shawnee State connected on a dagger 3-pointer with 23 seconds to go as the shot clock was dwindling, just the second of the contest for the Bears in 12 attempts, to make it 74-70. LWC was unable to get a shot off on the next possession as a turnover and layup by SSU brought the final to 76-70.

Shawnee State outshot the Blue Raiders 45.8 to 39.4 from the floor, while both sides struggled from beyond the arc. The Bears made 2-of-12 attempts while LWC hit just 2-of-20 3-pointers. SSU also had the advantage in free throws, making 20-of-26 while the Blue Raiders hit just 16-of-28.

Four Bears finished in double figures led by Hannah Miller's 19.

Lindsey Wilson is back in action on Monday as the Blue Raiders host Hiwassee (Tenn.).