Box Score Marissa Mandeldove scored 16 points but the Clark Atlanta University Lady Panthers dropped their first Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game of the season, 58-49 to Lemoyne-Owen College Saturday in L.S. Epps Gymnasium.

Despite the loss, the Lady Panthers (9-6, 7-1 SIAC) remain in first place in the SIAC East Division.  Lemoyne-Owen (6-6, 5-3 SIAC) is now in second place in the SIAC West Division.

The Lady Panthers had one of their toughest shooting days of the season, scoring just nine points in the first quarter and no more than 14 in the other three quarters.  But after falling behind by as many as 12 points in the first half, CAU climbed back into the game, trailing by only four – 27-23 – at halftime.  Mandeldove had 12 points and five steals in the half.

The Lady Panthers tied the game, 31-31 on I'Nayiah Moore's layup with 4:57 left in the third quarter, and trailed only by one, 40-39, after Naomi Holloway's jumper with 7:32 left in the game.   But the Lady Magicians outscored CAU 19-9 the rest of the way to get the win.

Mandeldove finished with 16 points, six steals, five assists, six rebounds and a steal for CAU, while Lauren Turner had a double-double with 12 points, 13 rebounds, along with four steals and a block. Holloway had 11 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.  Courtney Hall added six rebounds, two points, a block, and a steal.

Dana Gettis led Lemoyne-Owen with 15 points.

The Lady Panthers hit just 26 percent of their shots – and only 1-of-18 of their 3-point attempts – in their lowest point output of the season.

"We didn't block out, we didn't rebound, we didn't play hard and it all came back to bite us in the butt," said CAU head coach Yolanda Moore.  "Lemoyne-Owen played hard.  They just out played us. They just outworked us.  They wanted it more than we did.  We missed defensive assignments.  We didn't communicate - the same stuff that I've been talking about the whole season, even though we were being successful. I explained to them, it's dangerous when you have success doing stuff half-heartedly and then when you run up into a situation like today when doing the little things that count, then you end up with a loss."

The Lady Panthers return to the floor on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 2 p.m. when they visit Albany State University.