MONTREAT, N.C.— After trailing by nearly 20 points in the first half, the Montreat women's basketball team used an excellent effort to close the gap in the latter 20 minutes but eventually fell to the Bluefield University Rams at home Thursday evening. With the 69-58 defeat, the Cavaliers dropped to 11-15 (8-12 AAC) on the year.
 
Bluefield (10-12, 10-10 AAC) began the contest with hot shooting and did not look back. The Rams knocked down four of their initial seven tries from the field, including a pair of triples, as the visitors scored 12 of the first 16 points.
 
On the other side, Montreat utilized five offensive rebounds from 13 misses to generate scoring chances. The Cavs notched four second-chance points in the opening frame and shared the ball to incorporate four different scorers, but it was BU that shot 40.0 percent (6-15 FG) to grab an 18-8 advantage through 10 minutes.
 
In the second quarter, the Rams increased their shooting percentage with an 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) performance, while the Cavaliers connected at a 23.1 percent rate (3-13 FG). Bluefield, who led by as many as 17 midway through the quarter, went into the intermission up 36-20. Montreat continued spreading the offense around as five different Cavs collected points in the period.
 
Destiny Lewis captained the Cavaliers with six points to go with her four boards. Vaniyah Petty, who notched a trio of first-half offensive rebounds, grabbed four rebounds and tallied as many points, while Jessyka Leak also snatched four rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play.
 
The third quarter featured a scoring spree and rejuvenated offense from Montreat, who outscored the Rams 20-14 in the period. Coming off the bench midway through the frame, Adrianna Gullette provided seven points over a span of 4:16 that helped the team pull within 10 (50-40) with 10 minutes left in regulation. Baskets by Petty, Triniti Lockhart and Aebri Graham bracketed Gullette's run that aided the Cavs to a 57.1 percent (8-14 FG) shooting frame.
 
After BU extended its lead to 12 at the beginning of the final period, four points from Caleigh Raby brought the home team within eight (52-44) with 8:12 remaining in the game. Raby ended the night with eight points. Following Raby's buckets, Leak, who scored seven of her 10 total points in the fourth, made it a five-point game (56-51) halfway into the quarter.
 
Though Bluefield seemed rattled by the Montreat run, the Rams responded with 10 consecutive points over 2:50 to blow the game open late. As time waned, the Cavaliers made things interesting thanks to Gullette's third and-one opportunity of the contest and an and-one chance by Daisy Rice. Despite a career-high 10 points from Gullette and a 50.0 percent (16-32 FG) showing in the second half, the Cavs fell by 11.
 
Overall, Bluefield was the more efficient team, draining 49.1 percent (27-55 FG) of its attempts from the field compared to Montreat's 37.1 percent (23-62 FG) performance. The Cavaliers brought down 14 offensive boards but were outrebounded 39-31 on the night. Five players recorded two steals for the team, while Petty led the squad with seven rebounds. Ten different Cavs scored in the competition and four registered at least four boards.
 
Women's basketball heads back on the road to face Milligan University on Saturday. Tipoff in Tennessee is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.