Coming into Saturday's SIAC tilt versus Fort Valley State, there were two things that generally had defined Miles' strong early-season start. The Lady Bears would lead at halftime - which that have done in all eight games of their current win streak - and they would extend that lead in the third quarter, outscoring their opponents by nearly four points per game this season coming out of the break.

While the streak of games leading at halftime came to half against the Lady Wildcats, the third quarter dominance continued in a big way. Miles (9-1, 6-0 SIAC West) scored the first nine points of the period to take the lead for good and held FVSU to less than 30 percent shooting in the second half to take a 61-51 win at Knox-Windham Gymnasium. It was the Lady Bears' ninth consecutive victory and seventh straight home win over the Lady Wildcats (4-6, 4-3 SIAC East). 

FVSU shot nearly 60 percent from the field in the opening quarter and led by 11 points midway into the second quarter. But the Lady Bears started getting much easier looks at the basket over the latter part of the first half. Tederia Ashley (eight points two blocks) and Kiyara Howard-Garza (seven points, two steals) each had two point-blank scores at the hoop to close the half and the Lady Bears trailed just 30-27 at the break.

The defense sparked the Lady Bears' resurgence and that continued into the second half. FVSU went more than seven minutes without a field goal between the second and third quarters, missing five shots and turning the ball over five times. Meanwhile, Miles continued to attack. An offensive rebound by Madison Lee turned into a nice feed to Imani Williams (six points, three assists, two blocks) for a bucket that gave Miles its first lead, 31-30, two minutes into the third quarter. Feliah Greer closed a 13-0 run with a 3-point play that pushed the Lady Bears advantage to 36-30 midway through the third.

Greer had one of her game-high four steals late in the third quarter, which she fed to Lee for a 3-pointer that extended the Miles lead to 46-37 entering the final period. Miles played most of the fourth quarter with a double-digit advantage, going as high as 16 points after a 3-ball from Iemyiah Harris (seven points, three assists, three steals) with 4:07 remaining. FVSU never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Shekinah Rachel had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Ayana Cockrell added 10 points for Fort Valley State. Greer (18 points, 13 rebounds, three assists) and Lee (nine points, five rebounds) led the charge for Miles, which hosts Stillman on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.