Feb. 4, 2008

Rome, Ga. - The Shorter College Lady Hawks basketball team got 22 points from Katarina Martinovic to hand the Tennessee Temple Lady Crusaders a 73-64 lost on Thursday night to improve to 15-6 overall.

In the first three minutes of the game, the Lady Hawks jumped out to an impressive 11-0 lead, and continued to build for the remainder of the first half. A three-pointer from Sandra Kostandinovic with 8:11 left in the first, gave Shorter their biggest lead of the game at 25-6. Tennessee Temple managed to cut the lead slightly, but the Lady Hawks held a 31-16 lead at halftime.

The Lady Crusaders got a quick break to start off the second half, but Shorter didn't let it hold. On a three-pointer from Katarina Martinovic with 7:56 left in the game, the Lady Hawks increased their lead back up to 17 points, with a 52-35 advantage. Seven unanswered points from Shorter in the final five minutes allowed for some breathing room in the end as the Lady Hawks won, 73-64.

Shorter's lead scorer was Martinovic with 22 points and was followed by Megan Queen with 20 (who also had a team-leading eight rebounds). The Lady Hawks shot 13-for-21 in the second half, with a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.

Tennessee Temple's Stephanie Lovett scored 25 points.

The Shorter Lady Hawks continue conference play on Thursday night as they travel to Mount Vernon, Ga., to take on the Brewton-Parker Lady Barons at 6 p.m. Shorter won the first meeting between the two teams, 59-42, on Jan. 26.