FORT WORTH, TX - Texas Wesleyan Women's Basketball (13-9, 8-7 SAC) had University of Science and Arts-Oklahoma (16-8, 10-5 SAC) on the ropes, but USAO lassoed a victory down the stretch Thursday night at the Sid Richardson Center, 65-60.

After Hailee Walls sunk a pair of free throws to put the Lady Rams within one, 51-50 with 6:27 to play in the fourth quarter, the Drovers scored 12 unanswered points to pull ahead. The Lady Rams scored the next six points in the contest and cut the deficit to just seven with 1:51 remaining. But over the next 1:35 seconds, couldn't buy a bucket to make USAO sweat.

TXWES outscored USAO 30-23 through the second and third quarters in a sluggish game for both squads offensively - the Drovers shot just 38 percent in the win. 

Three different players for the Lady Rams grabbed nine rebounds, just missing out on double-doubles. Nicole Gleason had 11 points to go with those nine rebounds, but only hit one three. She needs three to claim the record for most career three pointers made in program history. Jordan Brightwell also scored 11 points with her nine boards on 5-of-12 shooting in 27 minutes. Brightwell has been extremely effective, with at least nine points or nine rebounds in four of her last six games. Evie Whorley notched nine points with nine rebounds.

The Lady Rams out-rebounded the Drovers 47-40, including 17 offensive rebounds, the most offensive rebounds since the Florida Memorial contest on December 17, 2019 - crashing the glass for 19 second-chance opportunities.

Texas Wesleyan outscored the Science and Arts bench 25-3 and doubled up USAO in the paint, 24-12. Makayla Coy led all Rams with 14 points off the bench. Freshman Milagros Carrera scored 27 for the visitors.

Saturday at 2 p.m., TXWES will face Mid-America Christian in Oklahoma City, another team one game ahead of the Lady Rams for playoff positioning. Just two games separate third and sixth place with five games to go before the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament in March. Texas Wesleyan still ranks 25th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio and Gleason ranks in the top 25 in three-pointers made (64) and total steals (58) this season.