There are times when Mona Martin thinks her young team has turned the corner.

When it all magically comes together and those flashes of potential become reality.

Then there are times when all those strides go out the window and everything crashes back to square one.

Both these scenarios played out for ULM in a 65-63 loss to Western Kentucky on Wednesday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Down by as much as 16, the Warhawks (7-19, 5-12) fought threw a poor first half and gave themselves a chance to steal a win on the road. But Alexar Tugler’s potential game winner in the final seconds fell short, sealing the victory to the Hilltoppers (19-7, 12-5).

“Just a tough loss and I hate it for the kids because they fought so hard,” Martin said. “They want to win so bad.”

The effort was there, but the same familiar mistakes returned to haunt Martin’s team, particularly turnovers. ULM struggled early on with WKU’s zone press defense, turned the ball over 15 times in the first half alone.

“We were throwing it up in the stands again, but I was very proud of how we battled back,” Martin said.

While the Warhawks were able to cut down on the turnovers in the second half—committing only five—missed layups and three-point shooting woes would not go away.

ULM shot 45 percent from the field in the second half, but did not make a single three-pointer—going 0 for 11—and missed 12 layups, seven of which were uncontested.

“That’s what killed us. All those things come back to haunt you in a game like this,” Martin said.

Despite the offensive inconsistency, the Warhawks managed a 15-2 run in the second half that erased the Hilltoppers’ 12 point lead and gave ULM a one-point advantage of its own.

It wouldn’t last. WKU quickly pushed back out front with a 10-1 run. The Hilltoppers wouldn’t relinquish their advantage for the rest of the game, but a couple of misssed one-and-one opportunities in the late stages put ULM in position for Tugler’s last second attempt.

“We got a shot off but came up short,” Martin said. “We’re right there, but we need people to make better decisions and that’s the bottom line.”

Ashleigh Simmons played her best game as a Warhawk, setting career highs with 24 points and 17 rebounds. Alexar Tugler finished the game with 15 points and Jasmine Shaw contributed 13 of her own. Tugler also lead the team with four assists.