Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team put together a complete game against Central Oklahoma on Saturday evening, claiming a 75-71 victory. The Bearcats move to 5-2 (1-1 MIAA) on the season while Central Oklahoma drops to 6-2 (1-1 MIAA).

The Bearcats were able to knock off a very talented Bronchos team, who took down #11 Pittsburg State earlier in the week, with stingy defense, rebounding, and excellent production from seniors Brittney Dukes and Chasity Prince.

After the Bronchos scored the opening bucket, Chasity Prince came down a hit a three to put SBU up 3-2, starting a 10-2 run to put the Bearcats up early. The Bearcats held around a ten point advantage through most of the first half, leading by as many as 12 (26-14), but Central Oklahoma continued to hang around. With 5:31 left in the first half, the Bronchos cut the lead to four, but SBU once again responded, extending their lead back to 11 at 40-29 going into the break.

Coming out of halftime the Bearcats and Bronchos continued to battle, but Central Oklahoma slowly closed the gap, eventually taking the lead at 54-53 with 9:13 left in the game. The Bearcats responded strongly, quickly pushing the lead back to five from an Ashlee Pitts three and a couple of free throws from Prince. The Bearcats held steady throughout the rest of the game, with Prince hitting clutch free throws down the stretch, to go on to a 75-71 victory.

Brittney Dukes led the Bearcat offensive attack with 17 points, while Chasity Prince added a season high 16 points off of 5-9 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. Brook Duncan added 12, including three three's, while Jacqui Zelenka pulled down 13 rebounds, dished out 5 assists, and had two blocks in the win.

As a team, the Bearcats shot 41.5% from the field and 46.4% from beyond the arc. The Bearcats out-rebounded the Bronchos 49-32.

"We are really proud of our kids," head coach Todd Voss stated. "They did a great job tonight. Brittney's decision-making was very good tonight in terms of having some balance between when she is able to shoot the three and when she should attack the rim. Brook also had a nice game for us, and she came up big and hit big shots.  We have a number of people on our team that can help us get the job done every night."

SBU will take a short break before returning to action on December 17-18 in Riverside, California for the California Baptist tournament. The Bearcats are set to play Vanguard on Monday, December 17 at 7:00 p.m. CST.