CANYON, Texas -- The SBU Lady Bearcats lost to Emporia State, 66-82, in the first round of the South Central Regional.

Erika Souza, in her last game as a Lady Bearcat, led all scoring with 26 points.

Emporia built a 10-point lead with 3 minutes left in the first half, but SBU cut it to just four on a jumper by Courtney Heady with a second to play before the break. Emporia, however, used the first four minutes of the 2nd half to build a 17-point cushion, from which the Lady 'Cats could not recover.

SBU shot 32.9% from the field on 23 of 70, and 22.7% from long range on 5 of 22.

"We had a great year," said SBU's head coach Jim Middleton. "We had a group that played well together. I would say they were 'over-achievers' - not from our expectations - but from what other people expected from us."

"We didn't shoot well tonight, but the effort was there. We played well enough to win, and tried to come back several times, but the shots just weren't falling." - the effort was there - the shots just wen're falling."

The Lady 'Cats hung tough on the boards, trailing Emporia only 33-39 in rebounding.

The Lady Bearcats end the season at 21-10. They finished 3rd in the MIAA standings despite being ranked #8 in the pre-season poll. The Lady 'Cats were MIAA Tournament finalists, and were a #5 seed in the South Central Region.