After being ranked for the first time this season, the Miles women's basketball team continued its winning ways with a wild 61-54 win over Benedict Thursday night at Knox-Windham Gymnasium.

The 24th-ranked Lady Bears (7-1, 5-0 SIAC West) won their sixth straight overall and have now won six consecutive games against the Lady Tigers (2-4, 2-4 SIAC East), who turned the ball over 38 times. Miles committed 27 turnovers of its own but was able to overcome an ice-cold start to the third quarter that put its seven-game home win streak in peril.

A bucket late in the first half by Jamaica Young staked the Lady Bears to a 33-28 lead at intermission. Benedict helped the cause by committing 22 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and Miles took advantage, leading by as many as 12 points in the second quarter. But just as it took a while for the Lady Bears to get untracked in the first quarter - going five-and-a-half minutes before scoring their first basket - the third quarter was even more perplexing as the Lady Tigers came storming back.

Benedict started the third quarter by scoring the first 12 points. A jumper by Andrea Duncan gave the Lady Tigers a 40-33 lead and it took the Lady Bears more than seven minutes to make their first field goal of the second half. Mya Millner split two free throws at the 3:48 mark to break the scoring drought before scoring on a feed from Samarian Franklin (five points, four steals, three assists) nearly a minute later to start the Miles rally.

Later, Millner (team-high 11 points, three steals) sandwiched two buckets around a Makayla Rieves (four points, five rebounds) layup, the last coming with 1:21 left in the third to cap a 9-0 run that put Miles ahead 42-40. When Shannon Niles (seven points, three steals) hit a short jumper right before time expired in the period, the Lady Bears held a 45-44 advantage.

The game would remain close but Miles would not trail again. Benedict was down by two with four minutes to go but Franklin drained a triple with 3:47 remaining to give the Lady Bears a 55-50 lead. An offensive putback by Tawana Nevels (seven points, seven rebounds, two blocks) ran the lead to seven points two minutes later and the Lady Tigers never made it a one-possession game again.

Alaysia Nash (14), Asiah Harris (10) and Duncan (10) were the double-digit scorers for Benedict. Young had eight points, five rebounds, and two steals while Jaylen Pleasant added six points for Miles, which hosts Allen on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.