As the regular season winds down, the stakes continue to rise for the Miles women's basketball team.

With a one-game lead in the SIAC Western Division and perfect record at home on the line Thursday night, the Lady Bears found themselves in a bit of trouble against Spring Hill. But Miles (17-7, 12-4) was able to fight back from a five-point deficit late in the third quarter to secure a 63-53 win over the Badgers at Knox-Windham Gymnasium. The victory, coupled with a Tuskegee loss, leave the Lady Bears one win short of their first West Division crown and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament in two weeks.

Miles was able to battle back by using its relentless defense to force Spring Hill (9-17, 8-8) into numerous turnovers and missed shots that changed the momentum. After falling behind in the third, the Lady Bears caused the Badgers to miss five of their next seven shots and turn the ball over nine times. During that span, Miles dug itself out of the five-point deficit until it had a double-digit lead with just more than three minutes left. For the game, Spring Hill turned the ball over 26 times, with Najla Shamsid-Deen and Kahyanne Bolton each getting five steals each.

A 3-point play by Daja Walker gave Spring Hill a 40-35 lead with 90 seconds left in the third quarter. But Sakina Wynn scored five straight point to tie it and Raiana Johnson's rebound and putback gave the Lady Bears the lead going into the fourth quarter. The Badgers trailed just 42-41 going into the final period but accomplished very little against the Miles defense until it was too late.

Victoria Sutton began to get hot in the fourth quarter, scoring seven of her team-high 16 points during the final spurt that put the game out of reach. Miles would open the final period on a 15-4 run, with Wynn's basket giving the Lady Bears a 57-45 lead with 3:17 left.The lead would get as high as 13 points late and Spring Hill never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Tiffany Valentine had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Elise Reilly added 10 points for Spring Hill. Wynn had 15 points and 3 assists while Johnson added 14 points and 6 rebounds for Miles, which hosts Tuskegee for Senior Day on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.