A near spotless start gave Miles an early cushion en route to a wire-to-wire 66-52 Senior Day win over LeMoyne-Owen on Saturday at Knox-Windham Gymnasium. The victory secured the No. 2 seed from the West Division for the Lady Bears (17-7, 13-6 SIAC) with one conference game remaining.

Miles took control from the start, scoring the first seven points of the contest. Senior Dereseia Randle (five points, four rebounds) got the party started with a layup, which was followed by a corner 3-ball from Nuriyah Slaton and a driving layup from Feliah Greer. All the shots continued to fall for the Lady Bears...literally. Iemyiah Harris made two buckets - including one 3-pointer - around another hoop from Slaton and senior Shamaria Gaines came off the bench and knocked down a mid-range jumper for a 19-9 Miles lead with three minute left in the opening quarter.

The only shot Miles missed in the first quarter was a 3-pointer from Madison Lee with 44 seconds left. But she would connect from behind the arc with shortly before the horn to give the Lady Bears a 24-13 advantage. Harris would hit a 3-pointer to open the next quarter as well, giving Miles a 9-of-10 start from the floor and a 14-point advantage mere seconds into the second period. The Lady Magicians found some life, though, and had cut the deficit to three points before Kelli Finkley knocked down a jumper near the free throw line that gave Miles 34-29 halftime advantage.

LeMoyne-Owen stayed close in the second half but Miles used tow good defensive spurts to stay in front. In the third quarter, LOC had gotten to within six points but the Lady Bears did not allow a bucket from the field for the final 3:15 of the period. Eunique McKinney (six points, four steals) nailed a jumper at the buzzer to give Miles a 50-38 lead with 10 minutes to go. In the fourth, Sierra Lynch (game-high 21 points) hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the Lady Magicians deficit to 53-48 with 5:18 remaining. But Finkley made buckets on consecutive possessions and Harris nailed a 3-pointer to push the lead back into double figures as Miles allowed just one field goal over the final five minutes of the game.

Madison Riley added 10 points for LeMoyne-Owen. Harris had 19 points, four rebounds, and four assists, Finkley tied her career-high with 11 points, and Imani Williams added seven points, seven rebounds, and three assists for Miles, which hosts Lane on Monday. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.