ROCK HILL, S.C. -- There was a bit of unfamiliarity for the Miles women's basketball team heading into Wednesday's SIAC Tournament opener against Lane.

For the first time, the Lady Bears came into the tourney as the favorite, wearing the unassailable target that front runners adorn at playoff time. Also, as winner of the Western Division, Miles was one of the final teams to start play this week, giving the Lady Dragons a leg up when it came to the comfort of playing at the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center that is hosting the SIAC Tournament for the first time.

But after surviving some early jitters, the Lady Bears did what they have done best all season. Using their vaunted pressure defense to force turnovers created the necessary offense that allowed them to overcome a halftime deficit and defeat the Lady Dragons 54-50. The win gave Miles (20-7) its first 20-win campaign since 2010-11 and advanced it to the tournament semifinals for the first time since 2016.

"We live and die with our defense. When our defense is on, we're going to be on," said head coach Phillip Wallace, Jr. "When our offense is off, we're going to rely on our defense to get us some easy baskets."

After falling behind by nine points after the first quarter, Miles was on the ropes. Lane was shooting 50 percent from the field and the Lady Bears - many who had not played on this type of stage with the burden of great expectations - struggled. But over the final three quarters, the Lady Bears forced 17 turnovers. That slowed the Lane attack and, ultimately, allowed the Lady Bears to get back on track.

Miles trailed 22-17 at the half after making just 4-of-23 shots from the field (17 percent) over the first 20 minutes. But things changed in the third quarter as the Lady Bears took the lead for good. Victoria Sutton opened the half by draining a 3-pointer and three minutes into the period, the game was tied at 24 as Kahyanne Bolton (team-high 15 points) split a pair of free throws. A short jumper by Kierra Patrick at the 5:53 mark gave Miles a 29-27 advantage and it would not trail again.

The Lady Bears became more aggressive offensively in the third quarter. The aggression put Lady Dragons into heavy foul trouble and Miles took advantage, going 7-of-13 from the field while getting 13 free throw attempts (making 9) in scoring 24 points during the period to open a four-point advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

Leading scorer Sakina Wynn (two points, eight rebounds, four assists) was shutout over the first three quarters but when she made her only basket of the game - a short jumper a minute into the fourth quarter - Miles had opened its biggest lead of the game at 46-37. Lane looked broken and the Lady Bears looked ready to waltz into the semifinals. But suddenly, Miles' aggression waned and the Lady Dragons mounted a late comeback.

The Lady Bears lead was down to two points with three minutes remaining before Sutton (14 points) knocked down her fourth 3-pointer of the night to break a drought from the field of nearly six minutes. Lane would get to within two again inside of 30 seconds but after Patrick missed the back end of two free throws, Mya Millner (three points, five rebounds) grabbed the offensive board and was fouled. She also split two free throws with three seconds left that secured the win and ended Lane's chance to win the conference tournament for the second straight year.

Cierra Brown had 16 points and Ra'Keta Shelton had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Lane. Najla Shamsid-Deen had 11 points and Raiana Johnson added three points and a game-high 13 rebounds for Miles, which plays the winner of the Tuskegee-Savannah State game on Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for noon.