ALBANY, Ga. -- Miles trailed Albany State by 20 points late in the third quarter and it looked as if the Lady Bears would meekly go down to defeat.

The Lady Bears would erase the entire deficit with less than three minutes to go but could not overtake the Lady Rams down the stretch, falling 71-65 at the West Campus Arena. Four players scored in double figures for Miles (8-15, 5-10 SIAC West), led by Jasmine Hollis' ninth double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds). But ie was not enough to overcome a subpar defensive first half where the Lady Rams (15-11, 11-5 SIAC East) shot 55 percent from the field en route to the victory.

Albany State led 44-30 at the half and 53-33 with 3:47 left when Kayla Green (game-high 21 points) hit 1-of-2 free throws. But Miles turned up the intensity on defense and the Lady Rams went cold, missing their last five shots of the quarter as the Lady Bears closed the period on a 16-2 run, bringing the deficit to 55-49.

The Lady Rams seemed to acquit themselves and led by seven points with 3:48 left but Hollis completed a 3-point play, Amoni Walker knocked down a 3-pointer and Symone Williams hit the front end of two free throws to tie the game at 63 with 2:41 left. From there, Miles had two chances to take the lead. First, Williams missed the second free throw. Then, down 65-64 with 90 second left, Hollis had a point-blank look underneath the basket but was unable to convert and the Lady Bears would get no closer.

Elesha Foster had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Albany State. Walker had 12 points, Taylor Terry added 11 points, and Ashley McCrear finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals for Miles, which plays a non-conference contest at Clark Atlanta on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.