A furious fourth-quarter rally by Saint Mary pushed the Spires past the Coyotes 75-70 on Saturday night inside Mabee Arena.
Saint Mary outscored the Coyotes 24-13 in the fourth quarter after KWU held a 57-51 lead over the Spires after three quarters.
The Spires got within two points with 8:13 left, but a score by Hampton Williams kept the Coyotes up by four.
Neither team scored for over two minutes when Paige Chauncey broke the drought for the Coyotes with a bucket cleaning up a missed shot by Williams.
Saint Mary drew within a point at 64-64 with 3:49 left and after Williams scored, the Spires tied it with a 3-pointers and then took the lead with 2:38 to go. Free throws by Angel Lee tied it again, but another Saint Mary 3-pointer and free throws put the Spires up 73-68 with 54 seconds left.
Free throws by LaMyah Ricks got the Coyotes within three with 34 seconds left, but the Coyotes could not draw even, as the Spires hit free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Saint Mary led 11-4 to start the game as Wesleyan was slow out of the gates. KWU trailed by as many as eight in the first quarter before cutting it to four at the first quarter horn.
The Coyotes drew even with 8:43 to go in the second on a bucket by Williams, and a 3-pointer by Williams gave Wesleyan its first lead of the night at 22-19 with 8:19 to go. The points also sparked a 12-0 KWU run that gave Wesleyan a 25-19 lead with 7:56 left in the half.
Saint Mary was again within two at 26-24 when the Coyotes used a 10-2 run to take a 36-26 lead with 2:31 to go. KWU took a 38-31 lead into the break.
Catherine Bowman hit a 3-pointer to open the second half for the Coyotes who pushed the lead out to 12 points at 45-33 with 7:52 left in the third. Saint Mary would push back with a 7-0 run to get within five at 45-40 with 7:07 to go.
USM was within two with 2:52 in the third but a Bowman triple would help the Coyotes hold the lead and have a 6-point margin at the end of the quarter.
KWU went a combined 6 of 38 in the first and fourth quarters, finishing the night shooting 20 of 67 for 29.9 percent. Williams and Chauncey had eight rebounds each.
Wesleyan does maintain a 2-game lead in the KCAC standings as Friends was upset by Avila on Saturday night.