COLUMBUS, Ga.  – The Jaguars battled back from a 17-point deficit on Saturday afternoon to the Peach Belt Conference West Division-leading Columbus State Cougars but fell 66-60 on the road.

The Jags  (2-14, 1-7 PBC) and Cougars (16-1, 7-1 PBC) traded buckets for the opening minutes of the contest, after CSU struck first and GRU's Joshlyn Belcher answered with her first try at a field goal.

It stayed a three-point game until CSU's Michelle Mitchell scored four straight buckets on back-to-back jumpers and layups. Carrie Washington added another layup for a nine-point lead with 12:21 remaining in the first half, but Tavia Sykes broke up the run with a jumper for GRU.

The Jags trailed by 10 with just under 10 minutes to play, when Kayla Roberts nailed a trey and sunk a layup on the next Jaguar possession to cut the deficit. She ended the first half with a team-high nine points, but the Cougars owned a 31-22 halftime lead. Neither team shot well from beyond the arc in the opening half, with the Jags connecting on one three pointer to seven attempts and the Cougars shooting one for 12.

The opening minutes belonged to the Cougars, as they built a double-digit lead on Ashley Asouzu's jumper. They lead by as much as 17 in the game, but the Jaguars never quit. With CSU still leading by 10 with just under four minutes to play, Belcher hit another trey, but CSU found their way to the free-throw line. They held a slight lead the remainder of the PBC battle.

With under 35 seconds, Camille Gee hit two three pointers to make it a six-point game, but it was too late. Gee paced the Jaguars with 15 points on the day.

The Cougars took the day 66-60, posting a 43.6 field-goal percentage to GRU's 35.0. The Jags did own the charity stripe connecting on 12-18 with a 66.7 percentage to CSU's 53.6

Kayla Roberts and Joshlyn Belcher added 13 apiece, while Mitchell scored a game-high 25 points for the Cougars. The Jags had three more assists than the Cougars, but lost the rebound contest 45-37. The Jags play at Young Harris Monday Jan. 19 at 1:30 p.m.

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