RALEIGH - Athens Drive's win streak, which grew to 10 with a 49-22 thrashing of Ravenscroft on Monday, came to an abrupt end a day later. The Lady Jaguars fell into a hole against Southeast Raleigh Tuesday and couldn't get out.

The Lady Bulldogs (7-2), who jumped out to an 18-6 lead in the first quarter and led by as many 15 in the third, survived several Athens runs, but never gave up control, winning 44-35 on the road.

The win snapped the Lady Jaguars' 10-game win streak.

Athens (11-2) sliced into the deficit a few times but never managed to turn the tide.

Athens went on a 9-0 run to make it 18-15 with just over six minutes left in the first half. But coming out of a timeout at 6:22, the Lady Bulldogs went on a 9-2 run to close the half, giving Southeast a 10-point cushion at the break.

Southeast pushed it to 15 in the third quarter before Athens began whittling away the margin again.

Trailing 34-19, the Lady Jags went on a 12-2 run, scoring the first seven points of the final period to put Athens within striking distance at 36-31.

But the Lady Bulldogs responded again, getting two buckets from Aprill McRae to extend its lead with under four minutes to play

McRae scored 10 points on the night, behind leading scorer Brittany Holloway's 11. Athens wouldn't get within seven the rest of the way.

"We did what we needed to do," said Athens coach Chris Danehower. "We just dug ourselves too big of a hole early."

Athens was also without one of its starters, Rachel Collins, who had broken her nose a few weeks ago and was having it taken care of on Tuesday, Danehower said.

The Lady Jaguars will get a break until Jan. 5 when it faces Apex on the road; one of three conference games Athens will face in the span of eight days. Athens hosts Holly Springs on Jan. 8, and then Green Hope comes to Athens on Jan 12.

Athens guard Blair Williams said the team will have to work on adapting high-pressure games."We're really close within the team," she said. "... That's contributing to our play."

To start 2010 off right, Danehower said, the Lady Jaguars will have to focus on "coming to the ball and [being] a little bit stronger with it."

Athens center Keisha Gatling led all scorers with 13 points. "She brought it and played as hard as she could and everybody else did too," Danehower said. " ... If we play consistently, we have a chance to win the rest of our games."