There have been many seasons when Miles' women's basketball team did not win 10 games. So as the 25th-ranked Lady Bears continued their torrid run this season with a 55-49 win over Stillman on Tuesday night, this squad not only hit the 10-win mark earlier than any other team in program annuls, it became the first team to win 10 consecutive games at any point.

The Lady Bears (10-1), who earned their first national ranking earlier in the day, used defense to open a double-digit lead. But Stillman (7-7), which was making its first foray into Knox-Windham Gymnasium in eight years, made a valiant fourth-quarter comeback before coming up short.

Miles got off to a tepid start, missing 14-of-16 shots from the field in the first quarter but trailed just 7-4 after holding the Lady Tigers to a 3-of-11 effort. The game turned in the second quarter. The Lady Bears continued to play great defense, holding Stillman without a made basket from the field for the first seven minutes of the period. Meanwhile, the offense started to simmer, especially from the outside. Kiyara Howard-Garza (five points) opened the quarter with a 3-pointer before Madison Lee and Iemyiah Harris (five points, four assists) both drained 3-balls as they were fouled on consecutive possessions. Both players made their free throws for four-point plays and it closed out a 15-1 run that pushed the advantage to 20-8 with 3:38 to go before halftime.

Up eight points to start the second half, Miles continued to pour it on. Lee drained another 3-pointer, Tederia Ashley (seven points) scored twice on the inside, and Imani Williams converted two free throws as part of an 11-1 run to give the Lady Bears their biggest lead - 18 points - midway through the third quarter. Stillman closed the hole to 36-23 at the end of the period and the momentum looked like it was swinging in the Lady Tigers direction.

That shift was confirmed in the final quarter as Stillman continued to whittle away at the deficit. Miles did what it could, getting a 3-pointer from Asha Shareef (four points, eight rebounds), four points from Lee and a 3-point play by Williams to remain ahead by nine points with less than four minutes remaining. But a Miles turnover turned into a fastbreak bucket by Thaniyah Marks that brought Stillman to within 49-45 with 2:58 to go. But the Lady Bears were able to reassert themselves on the defensive end, forcing two turnovers and holding Stillman to just one bucket the rest of the way to close out the win.

Marks had 19 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots to lead Stillman. Lee (13 points, six rebounds), Greer (nine points, six rebounds), and Williams (nine points, eight rebounds, three blocks) paced the Lady Bears, who next host Lane on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.