Fulton, Mo. -- The William Woods University women's basketball team survived a wild finish tonight, winning 65-62 over Culver-Stockton College. Miranda Loesch (Lohman, Mo.) had four points on the night but none were bigger than her two free throws with 3:28 left on the clock, as the senior won a tenacious battle for a loose ball that was the turning point in the game.

The first half got off to a slow start, with each team stretching out a big lead before being reeled back in. Culver-Stockton's biggest margin came at the 15:16 mark, as they led 10-4.

William Woods answered with a 15-0 run to take a 19-10 lead, and they would hold the Wildcats at arm's length for most of the first half. The visitors would close out the stanza with nine unanswered points, however, to send the game into halftime deadlocked at 30-30.

The Wildcats came out of the locker room in the second half a bit sharper than the Owls, jumping out to a 48-38 lead with 12:31 to go.

Dan Chapla's squad would pull back into the game with three buckets in the space of 30 seconds, however, and Ciara Tatum (Columbia, Mo.) would eventually knot the game at 57-57 with just under four to go.

On the ensuing inbounds play, the ball came loose and Loesch came up with the ball, drawing a foul as CSC's Aneshia Starks fell on top of her. The Owls senior stepped to the line and calmly sank the front end of a one-and-one before draining the second.

WWU held on to the lead for all but one possession down the stretch, but Ashlee Taylor (Dexter, Mo.) banked a trey with 14 ticks to snatch the victory back.

Sharron Andrews (Oakland/Hayward, Calif.) led the Owls with 15 points and eight rebounds on the night, with Blake French (St. Charles, Mo.) and Megan Aubuchon (Old Monroe, Mo.) also finishing in double figures. Starks led all scorers in the game with 22 points for the Wildcats.

WWU moves to 3-2 on the season and will return to action next Tuesday night as they travel to Kansas City, Mo., to take on Avila University. Tipoff for the game - the first of a doubleheader with the Owls men - is set for 5:30 p.m.