BLUEFIELD, Va. — The St. Andrews women’s basketball team suffered their first loss to the Bluefield Rams in an 87-85 decision that went into overtime Tuesday night in Virginia.

St. Andrews (3-1, 2-1 Appalachian Athletic Conference) trailed 40-31 at halftime but outscored Bluefield 23-16 in the third quarter to make it a two-point deficit at 56-54 heading into the fourth. Both teams were tied at 73-73 at the end of regulation.

Guard A.J. Price scored a game-high 31 points on 13-for-24 shooting and had three rebounds and two steals for the Lady Knights; guard Ashley Starks had 28 points, nine rebounds, and three steals; forward Madison Larrimore flirted with a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds; and guard Emily Cruz had seven points and six rebounds.

Forward Destiny Long and guard Kiaa Boyd had 27 points apiece for Bluefield (1-4, 1-2 AAC), with Long also recording eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals and Boyd pulling down 13 rebounds. Guard Emily Breeding had 13 points and three assists.

St. Andrews shot 32 of 74 (43.2%) overall, 4 of 16 (25%) from 3-point range, and 17 of 23 (73.9%) from the free-throw line. Bluefield went 38-for-86 (38.4%) shooting from the field, 3 of 16 (18.8%) from downtown, and 18 of 31 (58.1%) from the foul line.

Each team had 41 rebounds, and St. Andrews had 13 turnovers compared to 17 from Bluefield. The Lady Knights had 30 total fouls in the contest; Price, Starks, Cruz, and center Caycee Scott all fouled out. The Rams had 22 fouls.

St. Andrews plays at Montreat next Tuesday.

SAU men’s basketball falls at Bluefield

Despite leading at halftime, the St. Andrews men’s basketball team was downed 76-73 at Bluefield Tuesday night.

St. Andrews (2-3, 0-3 Appalachian Athletic Conference) led 33-28 at halftime, but the Bluefield Rams (2-1, 2-1 AAC) came back and took their first second-half lead with 8:48 to go at 51-50. With 1:45 remaining, Bluefield led 73-67, but St. Andrews tied it at 73-73 with 19 seconds left before a layup from forward Danny Alford gave the Rams a 75-73 lead. After a free throw from Bluefield, a 3-pointer by guard Xzavier McFadden to try and give the Knights the lead with four seconds remaining was no good.

Guard Seth Smith led St. Andrews in scoring with 17 points and had four rebounds and four steals; McFadden had 15 points; forward Jalen Mcafee-Marion had 14 points and went 4 of 7 on 3s; and forward Mateu Escamilla had 10 points and two steals.

Guard Donovan Martin shot 10 of 15 from the floor and 2 of 2 from 3-point range to record 23 points while also getting four rebounds; guard Elijah White had 12 points and three assists; Alford had nine points and nine rebounds; guard Say’Quon Welsh had nine points, four assists, and three rebounds; and forward Quantavis McKinney had four points and eight rebounds.

The Knights were 28-for-66 (42.4%) shooting from the field, 11 of 25 (44%) on their 3s, and 6 of 9 (66.7%) on free throws. The Rams went 24 of 55 (43.6%) overall on shots from the floor, 5 of 13 (38.5%) from 3, and 23 of 31 (74.2%) from the foul stripe.

Bluefield out-rebounded St. Andrews 39-24 and had 14 turnovers, while the Knights had 12.

St. Andrews hosts Milligan on Thursday.