Valdosta State’s women’s basketball team fell to 2-2 Saturday with a 55-43 loss at Saint Leo. The Lions’ shooting efficiency proved to be too much for the Lady Blazers in their first road loss.

Brittany Ferguson led Valdosta State in scoring and rebounding for the second consecutive game, finishing with 14 points and eight rebounds. Ferguson was the only Lady Blazer to score in double figures.

Saint Leo scored first in the contest, and Ferguson answered to tie the game. The Lions scored again, retook the lead and held the lead the rest of the game.

Valdosta State trailed by five points at the half, 26-21, and by as many as 12 points in the second half.

After trailing by 12 just five minutes into the second half, the Lady Blazers fought back to within two.

Kourtnee Williams dropped a three-pointer to pull the Lady Blazers within seven points with 10 minutes left in the game. She dropped another one 30 seconds later, both coming off Maylisa Johnson assists, to make it a four-point game.

Saint Leo bumped the lead back up to eight before Courtney Mitchell turned another Johnson assist into points for VSU. Ferguson scored, also off a pass from Johnson, and made it a four-point game again, 43-39, with five minutes left to play. Then Johnson scored on a putback to make it a two-point game with 3:26 left to play.

Head coach Kiley Hill called a timeout after that, but Valdosta State could not get any closer to the lead. Seven of Saint Leo’s final 12 points came on free throws. The Lions would only make two field goals in the final 3:26.

Valdosta State finished the game shooting 32.7 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three-point range, with Williams making three of VSU’s four three-pointers. Saint Leo, however, shot 50 percent from both three-point range and overall.

Three Saint Leo Lions scored double figures, led by Shalisa Hill with 17.

Valdosta State held the edge in rebounding, 33-27, with 13 offensive rebounds to just four for Saint Leo, but the Lady Blazers could only turn those boards into five second chance points.

Williams scored nine points for VSU and Mitchell had eight.

Valdosta State will get a chance to push the team’s record above .500 against Albany State at 7 p.m. Tuesday at The Complex.