The Saint Mary women's basketball team earned their first KCAC win at Ottawa on Saturday night by a final score of 68-63. The win improves the Spires to 3-3 on the season and 1-1 in KCAC play.

The Spires jumped out to a 4-0 lead before briefly trailing midway through the quarter. Saint Mary led 20-18 headed into the second quarter, but Ottawa would bounce back to take a four point lead over the Spires into halftime. A 7-0 run by Saint Mary to open the second half quickly erased the Braves lead, and Saint Mary would push their lead to six points by the end of the third quarter.

Ottawa opened the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run and led Saint Mary by four points with 5:29 left in the game. Back to back buckets from the Spires tied the game at 59-59 with 4:37 on the clock. The teams traded buckets from there, but Candy De Los Reyes put the ball in the hoop to give Saint Mary the lead for good with 37 seconds left to play. Ottawa would not score again, as Saint Mary closed the game with a 7-0 run to earn the 68-63 victory.

Three Spires scored in double figures. Ashley Hinkle led the way with 17 points. De Los Reyes added 16, and Kiera Tate finished with 15 points. De Los Reyes had a team high seven rebounds as well. Tiani White led the Spires in assists with three. The Spires shot just 38% from the field and 39% from three point range, but shot 91% from the free throw line. Saint Mary held Ottawa to a cold shooting night as well. The Braves shot 39% from the field and 24% from three point range. The difference came at the three throw line with Ottawa making only 13 of 21 attempts for 62%.

Saint Mary will be back on the road for another KCAC matchup at Sterling on Tuesday at 6pm. Sterling is 3-2 overall and 2-0 in KCAC play.