It has been almost seven years since the last time LeMoyne-Owen came to Fairfield and grabbed a win over Miles, but that streak in serious jeopardy on the Monday afternoon.

Miles trailed at halftime and held a slim lead going into the final quarter before using a quick burst to gain some space at the start the fourth en route to a 64-55 win over the Lady Magicians at Knox-Windham Gymnasium. The Lady Bears (11-3, 9-2 SIAC West) used their defense to slow LeMoyne-Owen (4-14, 2-9) in the last period, holding it to just 12 percent shooting from the floor as they pulled away.

The Lady Bears seemingly could not miss early. While Makayla Rieves and Tederia Ashley were scoring near the basket, Madison Lee and Iemyiah Harris (seven points) were draining 3-pointers as Miles went 8-of-11 from the field in the opening stanza to grab a 21-14 lead. Simone Johnson knocked down her own 3-ball in the opening moments of the second quarter to put Miles up by eight, but the Lady Magicians would score nine straight points to take the lead. Eunique McKinney would score with 4:47 left before halftime but that was the last bucket from the field for the Lady Bears before the break. They went 2-of-11 from the floor while LOC made four 3-pointers to take a 33-32 lead at the break.

The two teams continued to battle in the third with five lead changes and three ties, neither team leading by more than four points. But it was at the start of the fourth that the Lady Bears took over. Tawana Nevels made two free throws before Lee (nine points on 3-of-3 shooting, five rebounds) knocked down her second 3-pointer of the contest. As LeMoyne-Owen missed its third consecutive shot to start the period, Feliah Greer added another score to give Miles a 56-48 lead at the 7:49 mark and forced the Lady Magicians to call time out.

The quick confab did not help LOC, which proceeded to miss seven more shots before finally scoring a bucket from the field with 2:16 left. But on the other end, Rieves - who had a career-high 11 points to go with six rebounds and a blocked shot - scored again to give Miles a nine-point edge at 61-52, its largest of the day, with less than two minutes remaining. LeMoyne-Owen missed 15-of-17 shots from the field in the final period to help Miles pull away.

Kennedy Fuller had a game-high 18 points to lead LeMoyne-Owen. Greer (eight points, four rebounds, three assists), Ashley (eight points, eight rebounds) and India Brown (six points, five rebounds, two assists) each were among the contributors in a balanced effort for the Lady Bears, who host Tuskegee on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.