Box score | Season stats

BOLIVAR, Mo. -- A jumper in the lane from UCM's Deidra Dace with four seconds left gave the Central Missouri Jennies a 71-68 victory over the SBU Bearcats. SBU trailed by as much as 14 points in the first half, and battled back to claim the lead in the final minutes, before UCM regained the lead in the closing seconds.

Courtney Heady led SBU (3-15, 1-10 MIAA) and tied her career high with 19 points while Chasity Prince and Ashleigh Gallio each had 13 points. Malone led with seven rebounds. Becca Roberts led Central Missouri (10-8, 6-5 MIAA) with 19 points while Dace and Fleming each had 16.

Coach J.C. Carter said his team played for the entire 40 minutes and battled back. "We were down 14 and we came back and took the lead. Heady was our x-factor tonight. She stepped up and hit some shots."

UCM opened up with 26-12 lead with 10 minutes gone in the contest. SBU would battle back to cut it to 36-28 at halftime. The Jennies' second half lead was no more than nine points in the second half before SBU tied the game at 64 with 2:12 left on a trey from Heady.

After SBU took a 66-64 lead with 1:41 remaining, UCM would the tie game on free throws and then reclaim the lead on a layup by Deidra Dace with 48 seconds to go. Whitney Malone's bucket tied the game at 68 apiece. UCM would hold for the last shot and got a jumper from Dace with four seconds left for the win. UCM's Kara Fleming stole the inbound pass and hit one of two free throws for the victory.

"I thought it was a good defensive effort and one of our better nights." Carter added. "But we need to pay more attention on defense. We had some lapses that led to easy buckets for them. We've also got to work on putting the ball in the paint."

SBU returns to action one week from tonight when they host Missouri Southern at 5:30 p.m. The Lions defeated the Bearcats 62-61 on December 28 in Joplin.