BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- For the second consecutive season, Miles opened the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament against Fort Valley State. This time, the conclusion was more to the Lady Bears' liking.

Ashley McCrear had a terrific all-around game (14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, two steals) and the Lady Bears led wire-to-wire as the Western Division No. 4 seed defeated Eastern Division No. 5 seed FVSU 66-45 at Bill Harris Arena Monday afternoon. The win sends Miles (9-20) into a quarterfinal matchup against Clark Atlanta Wednesday at 1 p.m.

Victoria Sutton (seven points, four assists) drained a 3-pointer on the first shot of the game, one of eight the Lady Bears would drain during the contest. The Lady Wildcats (4-23) used just six players, and with a short roster were forced to play a lot of zone defense, which left a lot of open looks from outside. Still, Miles was able to control the tempo and the play from all over the floor, getting a bunch of good looks at the basket while also using a defense that forced 24 turnovers, which led to 16 points.

The game was close after the first quarter with Miles leading by just four points. But the Lady Bears blew the game open in the second quarter. They scored the first 10 points of the period and started the quarter on an 17-1 run to that increased the lead to 32-12. FVSU missed its first eight shots of the quarter and turned the ball over seven times during that span, not making its first field goal until Jaylin Moye (four points, nine rebounds, seven blocks) connected on a jumper with 1:55 left before the half, where Miles led 36-20.

The Lady Bears would lead by as many as 24 points in the second half and the Lady Wildcats never got closer than 14 points over the final 20 minutes. Alicia Frankling scored a game-high 17 points for FVSU. Amoni Walker (14 points, four rebounds) and Taylor Terry (12 points, eight rebounds) were among the top players for Miles.