TROY – The Selma High School Lady Saints’ ride to the Final Four hit a stop sign Wednesday.

The Lady Saints were dominated on both ends of the floor in a 56-32 beating at the hands of the Sidney Lanier Lady Poets in the quarterfinals of the girls’ Southeastern Regional at Troy State University.

The Lady Saints end their season at 23-6.

“We didn’t come out of the gate,” Selma coach Anthony Harris said. “We just couldn’t get on track offensively or defensively.”

Harris said earlier this week that Selma would try and force the Lady Poets to advance by beating the Lady Saints from the perimeter.

But Harris’s game plan never developed. The Lady Poets scored 22 points in the paint, getting inside Selma’s 2-3 zone often.

Gabrielle Goudy’s lay-up gave the Lady Saints an early 4-3 lead. It would be the last lead Selma would see.

Lanier closed the first quarter on an 11-4 run capped by Michelle Cottrell’s 10-foot baseline jumper that gave Lanier a 14-8 advantage.

The Lady Poets began their assault in the Selma paint in the second period. Selma had closed the gap to 18-14 on a Santana Seay steal and Ashley Green’s follow for a lay-up. But Shaquorney Lewis’ running lay-up and another lay-in by Britney Harris stretched Lanier’s lead back to eight, 22-14, at halftime.

The Lady Saints found themselves in the unusual predicament of trailing at halftime following a sub-par shooting performance in the first half in which Selma shot just 19 percent (5-for-26) from the field.

“This was the worst game we’ve played in two years,” Harris said. “Fourteen points in the first half. That’s just not like us.”

Matters only worsened for Selma in the third period. The Lady Saints managed to cut into the Lanier lead and got to within 23-18 on a jumper by

Seay.

But four turnovers in a matter of 1:34 took the wind from Selma’s sails.

The Lady Poets took advantage of all three Selma miscues, with Cottrelle stealing the ball from Green and taking it the distance for the lay-up and a 30-18 Lanier lead.

“We had chances to get into the game,” said a frustrated Harris. “But we kept turning the ball over.

“My hat’s off to Lanier,” Harris added. “They came in here today ready to play and they took it to us.”

The Lady Saints didn’t help themselves, either. They shot just 29 percent from the field (13-for-44) for the game and were just 3-of-11 from beyond the three-point line.

Selma also turned the ball over 13 times in the second half and 19 times for the game.

The Lady Saints were led by Green with nine points, while Amina Wofford added six points and Erica Lumpkin tossed in five. Seay was held to a season-low four points.