MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – Forward Allison Sikes (Jr./Richmond, Va.) scored a game-high 23 points, but Saint Augustine's College allowed an 11-point second-half lead to slip away in a 68-65 non-conference basketball loss to Mount Olive College on Tuesday (Dec. 29) at Kornegay Arena.

The Lady Falcons (4-5 overall) led 48-37 nearly midway in the second half, but the Lady Trojans (3-4 overall) went on a 21-8 run for a 58-56 lead with about three minutes left. The Lady Trojans led for the first time since the early moments of the first half.

Sikes did her best to pull out a win for the Lady Falcons. She shot 10-for-15 from the floor including 3-for-5 from the three-point line. Sikes also added four steals and six rebounds but it wasn't enough for the Lady Falcons, who shot 37 percent in the second half after shooting a sizzling 52 percent in the first half.

Forward Keyona Bryant (So./Springdale, Md.) added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Falcons, who shot 43 percent for the game and outrebounded the Lady Trojans 37-35, but committed 30 turnovers. Shequanta McGee scored 22 points for the Lady Trojans including 5-for-8 three-point shooting. She scored 16 points in the second half with many of the points coming during the decisive run. Helen Moore added 15 points, Alyssa Luebs contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Laporsha Davis scored 11 points for the Lady Trojans.

The Lady Falcons built a 35-28 halftime lead behind the shooting of Sikes, who scored 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the floor in the first half including 3-for-3 behind the three-point arc. Led by the hot-shooting Sikes, the Lady Falcons shot 52 percent from the floor including 80 percent from the three-point arc and held the Lady Trojans to 36 percent shooting.

The Falcons take the floor again on Saturday (Jan. 2) in a CIAA home game against Bowie State University. The game, part of a basketball doubleheader designated as Community Day, starts at 2 p.m. at Emery Gymnasium.