ITTA BENA, Miss. - The first quarter was slow offensively with both defenses playing well and forcing each other to use the entire shot clock. The Devilettes held Grambling scoreless for the first three minutes of the quarter, taking a 5-0 lead.

The Lady Tigers picked up four team fouls in the first quarter; however, the Devilettes couldn't capitalize at the charity stripe. Despite having a better shooting first half than the Lady Tigers the Devilettes went into the half down eight points. Offensively, neither team could gain the tempo and points were scored by defensive gains.

Kristy Parker lead the Devilettes with seven points going into halftime, and Kailyn Gideon lead the Lady Tigers with eight points. Grambling State size could have posed a threat in the first half, but the Lady Tigers couldn't make their shots or cash in on second chance opportunities. Monisha Neal and Shakyla Hill's accurate passes, aggressiveness, and speed created mismatches downlow allowing Kailyn Gideon to score which gave GSU a nine-point lead late in the second quarter.

The third quarter was controlled by the Lady Tigers as they took a 12-point lead to the fourth quarter. Grambling dominated the paint (22-10), and the Devilettes couldn't get their shots to fall on the other end shooting 36.6% from field in the third. Stellar defensive performances from Desiray Mosley and Kenya Arnold helped stop the Devilettes from going into a deeper hole, and also set up big offensive scores from Sydney Floyd and Parker.

Mosley frustrated the Lady Tigers with her active hands that created many deflections, and undersized Arnold had 11-rebounds on the night, all in which she fought for. Off the bench, Floyd and Mosley picked up the slack, with both contributing nine points in the Devilettes' effort.

The heat was turned up in the fourth quarter as Mississippi Valley fought back to pull within five midway through the quarter. The fouling out of MaKayla Bonner ultimately hurt MVSU, as Grambling continued to score in the paint.

The Devilettes defensive effort was great, but a poor shooting night (36.7% from the field) and foul trouble caused problems down the stretch. LaKendra Bassett came life in the second half of the fourth quarter, and her and-one was what helped the Devilettes pull within one with 40 seconds left in the last quarter.

In the close 62-64 loss to the Lady Tiger, Parker had 22 points (12 from 3-pointers) and seven rebounds. LaKendra Bassett's active fourth quarter resulted in her 15-point night.

The Devilettes will be back in action, Saturday afternoon against the Lady Hornets of Alabama State. Tipoff at 2 p.m. in the R.W. Harrison Complex.