WAXAHACHIE, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University women's basketball team (13-7, 5-4 SAC) used a late three-pointer to come out on top of a 51-50 thriller on the road against Southwestern Assemblies of God University (9-9, 2-7 SAC) on Thursday.
 
Courtney Chargois opened the game with a bucket as the Lady Rams were ready for the start. The Lady Lions hit three-pointer to make it a 9-7 lead with the Rams in close chase. The Rams rallied with eight straight points capped on a Katelynn Threats old fashioned three-point play for a 19-14 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.
 
Threats continued the run into the second quarter with a tip-in for a seven point edge at 21-16. The Lions cut the lead to just three with a Laken Ward basket, but TXWES outscored their opponent 8-6 to halftime to lead 31-26.
 
SAGU buttoned up the defense in the third quarter, holding the Lady Rams to just seven points. The Lions tied the game before Ashlie Bruner knocked down a bucket to keep a slight 33-31 edge. The Lions outscored Texas Wesleyan 8-3 to end the quarter, grabbing a 39-38 lead after Lexi Rich swished a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
 
The rowdy Lion faithful made it tough on the Rams in the final quarter, but Bruner posted a jumper to tie the game at 43 apiece with 4:44 left on the clock. The Lions took less than a minute to gain a 48-43 edge with a 5-0 run, capped by a Kayla Blise triple. The SAGU defense did their best to keep the Lady Rams at bay, although both offenses struggled down the stretch. Threats slashed through traffic to put in a bucket off the glass, making a two-point deficit with one minute remaining.
 
The Lions successfully defended a shot with 18 seconds left in the game, but a diving Bruner saved the ball from going out of bounds to get one more chance. The offense set up to go inside but Lorian Benjamin took a step to her right and found Nicole Gleason wide open behind the arc. Gleason hit the bottom of the net to give the Lady Rams a 51-50 lead with eight seconds on the clock to silence the crowd as the Wesleyan bench erupted. Alexis McAfee and the Lions got off a tightly defended shot in the paint, but could not get it to go, falling 51-50 at home.
 
The Lady Rams out rebounded the Lions 49-36, but both teams shared similar totals in the rest of the stat sheet. SAGU shot 33 percent from the field, while TXWES shot 32 percent, both teams tallied 11 assists, and the Rams took a slim 14-13 edge in the steals column.
 
Threats led Wesleyan with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Bruner kept the Lady Rams in motion with nine points, 12 boards, five steals, and five assists. Alycia Louallen posted eight points, while Bailey Broadnax had five points and eight boards in the win.
 
Texas Wesleyan goes to Shawnee, OK for a conference game with St. Gregory's University on Saturday, January 28 starting at 3:00 pm.