MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - A strong third quarter was not enough for the College of Coastal Georgia women's basketball team as they dropped their second straight Sun Conference road game to the St Thomas Bobcats on Saturday afternoon in Miami. 

The first five minutes of the first period did not go as planned for the Mariners (10-8, 3-7 SUN) as they fell behind quickly 8-3 until Jasmin Worsley ended the run with a layup to cut the lead down to three. The Bobcats (15-6, 9-2 SUN) wasted no time getting their lead right back out with a 6-0 run, but back-to-back three's from Morgon Webb and Alli Stone negated the run and brought the lead right back down to just three with 2:18 left in the first quarter. After Stone's three however, the Mariners could not score again for the rest of the quarter as St Thomas ended the period on a 7-0 run to take a 21-11 lead into the second quarter. 

The second quarter was not much better offensively for the Mariners as St Thomas held them to just 13 points on 4-12 shooting from the field and 0-5 from deep, winning the quarter 19-13 and took a 40-24 lead into the halftime break. 

Taylor Gardner led the Mariners at the break with seven points while Shafer followed closely behind with six. Webb, who played all 20 minutes of the first half, scored just three points on two shots from the field. St Thomas had four players with eight points in the locker room and shot 56 percent from the field in a dominant first half. 

The script took an immediate 180 degree turn in the third quarter as the Mariners came out of the locker room and dominated the entire period. CCGA outscored the Bobcats 20-10 in the quarter, allowing just one made field goal and only eight shot attempts in 10 minutes. Meanwhile the Mariners couldn't hardly miss, going 9-17 from the field for a 53 percent clip, putting them right back in the ballgame. Two late free throws extended the lead for the Bobcats a tad, but the Mariners had made the game interesting going into the fourth with the Bobcats leading 50-44. 

While the Mariners had all the momentum coming into the fourth quarter, they could not hang on as they allowed St Thomas to hang into the game and could not pull away, leading to a heart crushing defeat. The Bobcats used a 9-3 run to start the quarter and held off a late game surge from the Mariners to take the contest by a final of 68-62. 

Gardner finished with 19 points, a new career high for the senior from St. Johns, Fla, while Worsley was right behind with 17 points, which tied a career high set back on January 24, 2024 against Webber. Worsley also finished with 11 boards for her second straight double-double. 

The Mariners will now look to regroup at home on Wednesday against the Gyrenes of Ave Maria. Tip off is set for 5:30 p.m. from Coffin Gym.