By MacKenzie Tuttle for berryvikings.com

LAGRANGE, Ga. -- The Berry College women's basketball team suffered its second loss of the season, 83-73, against Piedmont College at LaGrange on Sunday afternoon.

The loss dropped the Vikings to 4-2 for the season, and the win improved the Lions to a perfect 4-0 overall.

Piedmont started out strong, quickly scoring seven unanswered points to open up the game against the Vikings. By halftime the Lions led 44-25.

However, BC regrouped, fighting back hard in the second half to cut the lead to ten by the end of the game. The Vikings outscored PC, 48-39, in the final half.

Led by freshman Zariah Pierce's season-high 20 points, the Berry offense came alive as the minutes wore on. Pierce was 4-6 on three-point shots, as well as 4-6 from the free-throw line. She also collected five rebounds and had two steals to top off her best game yet for the Vikings.

Three other BC players also posted double digit points in the loss: Emma Cook, Mel McLean, and Chanlir Segarra.

Segarra added 17 points in the win. She was also 3-4 from the free-throw line and had five rebounds as well. Cook put up 16 points for the Vikings and was a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. She also collected the most rebounds for the Vikings on the day--with eight. McLean posted 10 points for BC, going a perfect 2-2 at the free throw line as well.

For the Lions, Mary Kate Rushton scored 26 points. Rushton was also 5-8 from the three-point line and 10-13 inside the paint.​

"We played hard, but not smart, on defense during the first half," said BC Head Coach Stephanie Dunn. "We dug a hole that our defense was able to almost get us out of in the second half. Overall, we had a good week. We learned more about us as a team--and also where we need to focus our attention in practice. We'll get back to work this week and continue to get better."

The Vikings look to pick up their fifth win of the season as they open conference play at Oglethorpe University on Thursday, December 4, at 6 p.m.