SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – The Shippensburg University women's basketball team dropped a non-conference road matchup Monday night in heartbreaking fashion, as host Shepherd hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to defeat the Raiders, 65-62, in competition held at the Butcher Center.
 
Shippensburg (1-10) rallied from an early first-half deficit to build a three-point lead at halftime, 29-26. SU continued its momentum into third quarter, as the Raiders scored 25 points in the frame. Shippensburg established its largest lead early in the fourth quarter, 56-43, with 9:43 remaining in regulation.
 
Shepherd (6-5) flipped the script in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Raiders 22-8 in the final 10 minutes. The Rams came all the way back, and led by three points with 90 seconds to play. Shippensburg hit 3-of-4 free throws over the next two possessions to tie the game, 62-62, with 49 seconds left.
 
In a madcap final minute of action, the Raiders drew a charge to get the ball back with the shot clock turned off. Shippensburg got to the free-throw line in the final two seconds, but missed both attempts. Shepherd grabbed the rebound and called timeout with 0.5 seconds remaining to advance the ball. On the final play, Ram senior guard Morgan Arden caught the in-bound and heaved in a three-pointer, with the ball out of her hands by mere inches as the final buzzer sounded.
 
Freshman Ariel Jones had another splendid offensive effort, leading all players with 25 points including a 10-of-12 effort at the free-throw line. Jones has posted double figures in all 11 games this season, and Monday's effort marks her eighth game scoring at least 22 points.
 
Senior Kristin McGeough had 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go along with four rebounds and two steals. Fellow senior Victoria Blackburn scored nine points, making 3-of-6 from three-point range.
 
Freshman Kryshell Gordy led all players with 11 rebounds; she also scored four points. Fellow freshman Jazzie Orth impressed with seven rebounds. Freshman Kasey Engle had five points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Redshirt-sophomore Gabriela Blackburn added five points.
 
The Raiders finished the game 16-of-25 (64 percent) at the free-throw line, while Shepherd was 11-of-13 (85 percent). The Rams got 23 points from Arden, who became Shepherd's all-time leading scorer with a pair of free throws in the third quarter.
 
Shippensburg now heads into the holiday break, and will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 30 at Mercyhurst.