The Miles women's basketball team had a challenging start to the new year, dropping two tough road battles as they played for the first time in three weeks. The Lady Bears lost 49-41 on Monday at Albany State before coming up short in a 54-44 defeat at Fort Valley State on Wednesday evening. Both scores marked season-lows in scoring for Miles (7-4, 4-3 SIAC West), which shot just 27 percent from the field in both contests.

ALBANY STATE 49, MILES 41

The Lady Bears held the lead at halftime before an ice-cold performance from the field in the third quarter changed the direction of the contest. Dereseia Randle and Iemyiah Harris combined for 12 of Miles' 16 points in the second quarter to open a lead as large as eight points and forge a 20-14 advantage at the break.

Things unraveled quickly in the third. FVSU scored the first 16 points of the period to take control. Miles missed its first seven shots from the field and three more from the charity stripe while also turning the ball over seven times before Feliah Greer made a free throw to end the drought with 3:44 left in the quarter. The Lady Bears would miss four more shots from the field before Greer put back a miss with 93 seconds to go. After cutting the deficit to seven points, Miles still went into the fourth quarter trailing by 12 points and did not get any closer than six points late in the game.

Greer had 14 points, five rebounds and four steals, Harris had eight points and five steals, and Imani Williams added eight points and seven rebounds for Miles.

FORT VALLEY STATE 54, MILES 44

The Lady Bears, again, struggled from the field in the loss to the Wildcats but with opportunities to get back into the game, they struggled to connect from the free throw line as Miles suffered consecutive defeats for the first time this season.

Miles led by as many as six points in the first quarter but found itself trailing 23-19 at the half. The Lady Bears turned the ball over nine times and shot just 20 percent (7-of-35) from the field. The shooting beyond the 3-point arc (2-of-17) and the free throw line (3-of-9) was not up to the usual levels but the team still had a chance to get back into the contest.

The third quarter saw Miles keep fighting. A bucket by Nuriyah Slaton just 90 seconds into the half allowed the Lady Bears to tie the game at 23. A steal and layup by Tederia Ashley tied the game at 27 with 3:26 left in the period. But Miles would go more than 10 minutes between the third and fourth quarters without a basket from the field, which allowed FVSU to open a double-digit lead. Any opportunity to get back in the ball game was scuttled by more woes from the charity stripe as Miles went 5-of-12 in the fourth quarter and was 8-of-25 for the game.

Harris had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Eunique McKinney added nine points, and Ashley added eight points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Bears.

UP NEXT

The Lady Bears are back in action on Saturday as they continue their road trip at Lane. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.