After Miles had opened a 14-point lead late in the third quarter of its game against LeMoyne-Owen, it did not appear that the team would need any late-game heroics to earn the victory. But the Lady Magicians methodically wiped away the Lady Bears advantage and had the ball trailing by a single points with less than 30 seconds remaining.

Enter Katrice Jackson.

Over the final 20 seconds, the junior center made three big plays that were the difference in Miles' 52-50 win over LeMoyne-Owen Saturday morning at Knox-Windham Gymnasium. The win was the fourth straight for the Lady Bears (9-3, 5-1 SIAC West), who remain perfect in five home games this season.

LeMoyne-Owen (7-6, 4-3) went on an 11-2 run to cut the Miles lead to 51-50. The Lady Bears went cold offensively and turned the ball over eight times in the final six minutes to fuel the Lady Magicians. Sentreal Gregory would drive the lane and pull up for a short jumper looking to give LOC the lead.

But she ran into the cold hand of Jackson, who got her sixth block of the night and helped preserve the lead. On the other end, Kahyanne Bolton (8 points) went to the free throw line looking to give Miles some breathing room with 10 seconds left. But on a day when both teams shot 40 percent from the charity stripe, Bolton missed both freebies. 

But Jackson was there again, grabbing her seventh rebound. She was fouled and went to the line for two shots. She missed the first but was able to convert on the second to give the Lady Bears a little cushion. Still, LOC had a couple more opportunities to extend the game.

Amil Mitchell (16 points, 7 rebounds) was fouled with less than two seconds left. But she missed both free throws and the ball went out of bounds to Miles with 0.8 seconds remaining. Miles would throw the ball inbounds to its frontcourt but right into the hands of the Lady Magicians. But the shot would not get off in time and the Lady bears would escape with the victory.

LOC opened the game on an 11-2 run but Miles would use the No. 1 ranked defense in the SIAC to take control of the game. The Lady Magicians would miss 11 consecutive shots from the field between the first and second quarters as the Lady Bears took the lead for good. A Mya Millner basket with 3:24 left in the first half gave Miles a 27-15 lead. LeMoyne-Owen went 2-for-13 from the field in the second quarter while Miles shot 50 percent from the floor to take a 31-23 lead at the half. A Jessica Hollis basket with 1:48 left in the third pushed the Miles advantage to 44-30 - its largest of the game - before the Lady Magicians began their comeback.

Lamontazia Blair had 13 points and Patrisha Lollis had 6 points and 11 rebounds for LeMoyne-Owen. Sakina Wynn was dominant with 19 points (on 7-of-10 shooting) with 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, Victoria Sutton had 7 points and Millner added 4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals for Miles, which plays a non-conference tilt at Albany State on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.