WICHITA - Ladessa Nachbor's career-high 18 points wasn't quite enough to push the Newman women's basketball team past Arkansas-Fort Smith, as the Jets dropped a 67-59 contest to the Lions Saturday afternoon inside Fugate Gymnasium. The Jets were held to just 38.8 percent shooting from the field in the loss.

Newman (4-12) made the first move, jumping out to a 6-2 lead three minutes into the game. A Rainey Nickel long ball pushed the Jets lead out to five, 9-4, by the 15:16 mark, but the Arkansas-Fort Smith (5-10) scored the next five points to tie the game at 9-9 with 13:25 still to play. The Jets countered with 8-straight points of their own to earn a 17-9 edge by the 10 minute mark, but over the next seven minutes the Lions went on a 13-4 run to take a 22-21 lead; their first lead of the night. It was a battle to halftime from there, as the Jets couldn't put the Lions away, and led by just two, 28-26, at halftime.

The two teams picked up where they left off in the second half, with neither team leading by more than three over the first four minutes of play. Two free throws by Vasha Sanders, and a Tracey Parsons lay-up gave the Lions another one-point, 32-31 edge at the 16:15 mark, but this time the Heartland Conference newcomers would not look back. By the 12:55 mark, the Lions had pushed their lead to nine, 44-35, and the visitors maintained at least a three-point lead for the remainder of the game. When the final buzzer sounded, Arkansas-Fort Smith had earned the 67-59 win in their first trip to Wichita.

Ladessa Nachbor led the Jets with a career-high 18 points as the only Jet to post double figures in any category. Ellen Traylor led Newman's rebounding effort, posting a new career high eight rebounds.

Vasha Sanders scored 18 points to lead Arkansas-Fort Smith, and was one of three Lions to finish in double figure scoring. Monica Spearman was the team's high-rebounder with nine boards.

With the loss, the Jets fall to 4-12 on the season. They will return to action Thursday when they travel to Odessa, Texas, to take on Texas-Permian Basin. Tip-off at the Falcon Dome is slated for 5:30 p.m.