TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Stillman College fought back from a 16-point hole in the second quarter but was unable to fully erase its deficit Wednesday night in a non-conference women's basketball loss to Miles College, 65-58. 

It was the first meeting between the former Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) foes since February 2016. Located only 50 miles apart, the two close HBCU foes were in a deadlock for the first 10 minutes of action. 

Alexandria Haymon gave Stillman a 14-12 lead with 3:34 left in the first quarter, but Iemyiah Harris answered with a 3-pointer to regain the lead, 15-14. That score remained at the quarter break.

Harris' 3-pointer, one of her seven in the game, sparked a 14-0 run by the Golden Bears to lead 26-14. Farrah Pearson broke Stillman's near eight-minute scoring drought with a jumper with 5:08 to play in the first half. However, Miles stretched its lead to 34-18 over the next two minutes. Stillman rebounded to close the half on an 8-0 run and trail, 34-26, at the break. 

Aided by six free throws, in part to a technical foul, JaMesha King led Stillman with eight points in the third quarter. The Tigers cut the margin to six points early in the quarter but trailed by 10 points, 50-40, entering the fourth. Pearson powered her way to 11 points in the final quarter as Stillman out-paced the Golden Bears, 18-15. Stillman's closest margin in the second half was five points, 63-58, after a pair of Laneja Warner free throws with 11 seconds left in the game. 

Pearson went on to lead Stillman with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Warner scored 13. King finished with nine points. 

Harris led all scorers with 23 points for Miles. Eunique McKinney and Tederia Ashley followed with 12 and 10 points, respectively. 

The Tigers out-rebounded the Golden Bears, 41-34 but shot 30% from the floor compared to Miles' 44%. 

Stillman (12-8, 4-6 SSAC) will return to Southern States Athletic Conference action Saturday, Jan. 28 when it hosts Brewton-Parker College at noon.