HILO, Hawaii – The Truman State Women's Basketball team could not claw its way out of a 26-8 first quarter deficit in a 77-57 defeat to No. 5 Fort Hays (Kan.) State Thursday.
 
The Bulldogs won the turnover battle, 17-19, and held an edge in points off turnovers, 17-12, but shot just 3-27 from behind the three-point line for a .111 completion percentage, their lowest on the campaign.
 
With neither team able to get much going early, graduate student forward Jordan Cunningham sank two free throws at 7:14 remaining to trail Fort Hays by one, 3-2, before the Tigers peeled off an 18-0 run. Freshman guard Katelyn Odem, in her first career start in the Purple and White, got the 'Dogs back on the board to find themselves down 21-4 with 2:39 left on the clock. 
 
Cunningham scored 10 in the second, including a perfect 4-4 at the line, to give Truman State a 17-14 advantage in the quarter to go into the half down 15, 40-25. A three-pointer in the first minute of the third by sophomore guard Lexie White brought the Bulldogs within 14, 42-28, but the Tigers would eventually lead by as many as 27 as they pulled away for the win.
 
Junior forward McKenna Williams tied Cunningham with a team-high 15 points on the night with seven in the fourth, grabbed four rebounds, and went 4-5 from the charity stripe. Cunningham, 4-10 from the field and 7-8 in free throws, tallied two blocks and two steals, and sophomore guard Bryar Dewe notched 11 as the only other Bulldog in double digit scoring. 
 
Truman State, now 5-7 overall, faces Big Island Holiday Classic host school Hawaii Hilo, 1-5 overall, at 5 p.m. HT Saturday, while 10-0 Fort Hays State squares off against Quincy (Ill.) in Hilo Friday.