WILBERFORCE, Ohio – The Stillman College women's basketball team took the Wilberforce University Lady Bulldogs' best shot Tuesday night, but the Lady Tigers showed a front-runners' edge and took a 73-70 win in HBCU Athletic Conference action. The win moved Stillman to 16-1 in the conference with one game left to play, and ahead of Dillard (15-2), which the Tigers defeated head-to-head in December.

Kashara Preston stepped up greatly for the Lady Tigers as she scored a Stillman career-high of 20 points and added two steals and two assists. Preston finished 6-of-7 from three. Farrah Pearson posted 11 points and seven rebounds, while Jamariah Turner added 11 points, five steals and four rebounds. 

Both teams played evenly throughout the contest. Wilberforce (11-15, 6-12) got up by six points in the first when Constance Chaplin connected on a layup with 5:36 on the clock to move the score to 10-6. Aside from a brief tie at 10-10, the Lady Bulldogs maintained the lead and led 18-17 after the opening quarter. 

In the second quarter, the Stillman College offense turned up a notch and not only took the lead, but jumped ahead to a 12-point advantage 30-18 after Preston hit one of the six threes with 7:34 on the clock, and then once more when Raena Suggs hit a three to move the score to 33-21 with 7:02 on the clock. However, Wilberforce posted a 14-2 run to end the quarter and trailed 37-35 at the half. 

The third quarter featured six lead changes as neither team could build more than a four-point lead. Free throws from Pearson to end the period gave Stillman a 57-55 lead after both squads scored 20 points in the quarter. 

The Lady Tigers led throughout the final quarter until Jada Hairston hit a jumper with 1:36 left to give Wilberforce a 70-69 lead. However, those were the last points for the Lady Bulldogs as Stillman played the free throw games with two makes at the charity stripe from Hannah Boykin-Williams and Pearson providing the necessary separation to lift the Lady Tigers to a 73-70 victory. 

Boykin-Williams added nine points, five assists and three steals, while Jaida Minter also posted five assists and scored eight points. 

Sillman finished 39.3 percent (24-of-61) from the floor, 44.1 percent (15-of-34) from three, and 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the free throw line. 

Constance Chaplin posted 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead Wilberforce. Makyla Tucker scored 17 and Hairston had 12. 

Stillman College closes the regular season on Thursday against Fisk University. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. in Nashville, Tennessee.