DANVILLE, Va. — The Averett University women's basketball team put together a valiant fourth quarter comeback attempt but couldn't quite pull it off against Southern Virginia University as it fell, 78-68, on Wednesday night in the Grant Center.

A rough second quarter hurt Averett (2-3), as Southern Virginia (4-1) outscored the Cougars 25-7 in the second. It proved to be the difference, as Averett outscored the Knights in every other quarter and couldn't quite come back from the first-half deficit.

Averett played competitive in the first quarter, as the teams went back and forth scoring throughout the first. The Cougars ultimately came away with the 19-16 lead at the break, sporting six different scorers in the first. The second quarter was a different story, however, as Southern Virginia caught fire in a dominant way to take a 41-26 lead going into halftime.

The Cougars bounced back in the third quarter, starting out with a 12-4 advantage to start the second half, eventually cutting the Knights' lead to five points. However, Southern Virginia went on a big run of its own to head into the fourth quarter with a 58-45 lead.

Averett's never gave up as the comeback attempt continued deep into the fourth quarter, with the Cougars cutting Southern Virginia's lead to 71-67 with 2:23 remaining in the game. Unfortunately for Averett, the Knights closed out the game on a 7-1 run to pull away for the win.

Junior Brooke Carthon led the team in scoring with 20 points and five rebounds on 6-9 from the field. Senior Alixis Roccia joined her in double figures with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Senior Amani Ajayi was next with eight points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals.

Averett returns to action as it faces Mary Baldwin University on the road on Dec. 8 at 2 p.m.