Adriana DiPrima's 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 17.1 seconds left sealed the deal for the Kansas Wesleyan Women's Basketball team as the Coyotes knocked off the Sterling College Warriors 88-82 on Wednesday night at Mabee Arena.
"I'm extremely thrilled. I love Adriana," KWU head coach Harper Taylor said after the game. "It's really great to see her working so hard and see everything come to fruition. She's put in a lot of time and effort to become a leader for this team.
I trust her, so it's good to finally see it come together out there on the court."
Wesleyan finished the game on an 8-2 run after having to battle back from a five-point deficit in the third quarter and being down 27-14 in the second.
The Coyotes used a big second quarter run to take a 42-40 lead at halftime.
A bucket by Odessa Ozuna started Wesleyan's comeback, and then back-to-back steals and layups by Anna Jueneman got the difference to seven, and Emma Gertken's triple with 6:16 left got the Coyotes within five at 28-23.
Sterling pushed its lead back out to nine at 34-25, when the Coyotes closed the quarter on a 17-6 run to take a 42-40 lead at the half on a Raegann McDonald score.
The Warriors tied it to start the third and took a 59-54 lead with 3:57 left in the quarter but a 6-0 Coyote run capped by Jueneman's bucket gave KWU a 60-59 lead with 2:24 to go.
The teams traded baskets back and forth the rest of the quarter and Sterling led 66-64 after three.
Sterling would lead 67-64 to start the third, but buckets by Jocelyn Hall and Izzy McCool gave the lead back to the Coyotes with 9:23 left.
It was back and forth over the next five minutes until KWU took the lead for good on another Jueneman steal and layup with 4:30 left to make it 80-78.
After Sterling tied it, Ozuna put the Coyotes on top with 3:26 to go and DiPrima would score to give the Coyotes an 85-80 lead with 3:03 to go.
Sterling hit a pair of free throws to make it 85-82 with 1:35 left. After a couple misses by each team, the Coyotes got the big triple from DiPrima to take the 88-82 lead.
The Coyotes would get a big time rebound by Ozuna at with nine seconds left to hold possession, but it was too little, too late for Sterling to come back for the win.
"This win feels great," Taylor said. "I think we came out a little flat to open the game, but after that everything just started clicking. We got downhill, we trusted each other. I am really happy for the team."
Ozuna scored 22 to lead all scorers in the game, while Jueneman added 19, DiPrima 13, McCool and Hall had 12 each. McCool pulled in 11 rebounds and DiPrima eight to help KWU to a 43-33 advantage on the glass.
Wesleyan shot 50 percent from the field for the game.