ALBANY, Ga. -- Miles jumped out to a quick lead and saw its defense shut down Albany State for the second time this season in earning a 68-45 non-conference win Tuesday night at The Arena at West Campus.

The Lady Bears (8-3) scored the first eight points of the game, with a 3-pointer and a layup by Kiyara Howard-Garza sandwiching a 3-ball from Iemyiah Harris. another triple from Harris was followed by four straight points by India Brown as Miles had opened a 17-4 advantage with four minutes left in the opening period. Albany State would trail 17-10 going into the second quarter but things were not going to get much better for the Lady Rams (4-7).

Miles scored the first 10 points of the second quarter to take complete control. Tederia Ashley (six points, three rebounds, two steals) started the run with a tip-in and closed it with a layup while Howard-Garza and Harris continued their 3-point assault with one each as they combined for seven during the contest. Meanwhile, Albany State was just 1-of-15 from beyond the arc and that make came in the second quarter. Unfortunately for the Lady Rams, they made just one more shot from the field in shooting 14 percent from the floor during the quarter as Miles went into the half with a 33-22 lead.

Albany State would shoot just 29 percent from the field overall but a 3-point play by Khyla Ragins (team-high 12 points) with 3:36 left in the third period cut the Lady Bears lead to 39-33. But Eunique McKinney (four points, three rebounds) made consecutive buckets late in the quarter to get the Miles lead back into double figure. Two free throws by Feliah Greer (six points, two rebounds, two steals, two assists) pushed the lead 48-37 with a quarter to play. The Lady Rams got as close as 10 points with 3:10 remaining but did not score another point as Miles won going away.

Howard-Garza scored a career-high 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go along with four assists and three rebounds. Harris had 12 points on 4-of-7 3-point shooting while adding four rebounds and two assists. Brown also set a career-high with 10 points while Mikayla Rieves had a team-high seven rebounds to lead Miles, which is back in action in Saturday at Kentucky State. Tip-off is scheduled for noon.