The Lady Lions (9-14, 4-6) returned to their home court Wednesday to battle the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Roadrunners (7-16, 3-7) in a conference match-up.

Both teams battled it out on the court and with only 35 seconds remaining in the game, Lady Lions’ forward Aja Gibson scored the go-ahead bucket, lifting the Lions to a thrilling 64-63 win.

The win, taking place on Wednesday, Feb. 8 in the University Center, marked head coach Lori Davis Jones’ 300th career win. Additionally, the win helped the Lady Lions capture a conference tiebreaker over the Roadrunners.

“If us and San Antonio do end up tied in the conference tiebreaker to get into the tournament, we get the tiebreaker because we only play them once,” said Jones.

The win was anything but secure in the first period as the Lady Lions scored only 10 of their 32 attempted field goals. Lady Lions junior forward Brandi Simmons led the team in first half scoring with a total of nine points. The team went into the half tied at 27-27.

When asked about her feelings going into the half tied, Simmons expressed her belief that the home court advantage was going to help the team pull out a win.

“It’s our house, and we got to come out with a win,” said Simmons. “If we don’t get it anywhere, we have got to get it in our house so just stay focused and come together.”

Coming out of the half, the Lady Lions’ adjustments became apparent as the team rallied and went on several runs. Lady Lions senior guard Latoria Holder seemed to come alive in the second period with a total of fourteen points and nine total rebounds including a key take away that helped the team gain their largest lead of the game.

“Rebounds were huge for her tonight,” said Jones when asked about Holder’s performance. “We knew if we could get the rebound and get it out, we could have some transition points.”

Despite the Lady Lions’ improved performance in the second period, UTSA was able to keep the score close. With 44 seconds remaining in the game, UTSA guard Kamra King scored off a turnover from Lady Lions guard Elizabeth Styles, bringing the score to 62-63.

“My heart was beating fast,” said Styles about the close game. “I believed in my team and I knew we could pull it through.”

Gibson’s basket nine seconds later secured another Lady Lions lead, but it was the team’s defense that captured the victory. With no time left on the clock, Roadrunners’ forward Cori Cooper missed the game-winning basket.

“The biggest thing that we did was switch defenses at the half,” said Jones about the team’s victory. “We knew we needed to still full court press them because we felt that was taking some time off the shot clock.”

Following the win at Northwestern State, the Lady Lions will return home on Wednesday, Feb. 15 to face Lamar in the University Center at 7 p.m