The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods women's basketball team jumped out to an 11-0 lead Tuesday against IU Southeast, but the visiting Grenadiers clawed back to take their first lead with 36 seconds remaining.
SMWC suffered a disappointing 77-74 loss that may have sealed the Pomeroys' fate as the River States Conference West Division's No. 5 seed in the postseason tournament. IU Southeast (16-8, 9-6 RSC) moved three games ahead of the Pomeroys in the standings with just three games remaining. 
Kylee Stepp (West Terre Haute, Ind./West Vigo) continued her hot shooting. Stepp hit three first-quarter 3-pointers as SMWC built a 29-17 lead after the opening 10 minutes. 
Stepp finished with a team-high 23 points. Brooklynn Jones (Loogootee, Ind./Loogootee) finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists despite dealing with second-half foul trouble. Avalee Jeffers (Cory, Ind./Clay City) finished with 11 points, five rebounds and four assists.
The Pomeroys led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter. 
But IUS stayed poised to chip away at the Pomeroys' lead. 
Emmy Ralph, the reigning RSC Player of the Week, had 17 of her 26 points in the second half to rally the Grenadiers. 
SMWC returns to action Saturday at Midway.