HOUSTON – HBU women's basketball kept the win train rolling Thursday night as they survived a late game run from the UIW Cardinals in Sharp Gym.
 
The Huskies (13-9, 9-2 SLC) improved to four consecutive wins which makes seven wins in their last eight games. With the conference tournament just around the corner, HBU moved into a tie for the lead in the Southland standings with the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders falling on the road to McNeese.
 
HBU played catch up early in this one, as UIW (9-14, 5-7 SLC) jumped out to a 6-1 lead early. A three pointer by Julija Vujakovic and a pair of made free throws from Kennedy Wilson evened things at six before HBU would go on a 9-7 run to earn their first lead of the game, 15-13. Both teams struggled from the field over the final three minutes of the quarter before Breanna Perez's made mid-range jumper tied things up with 30-seconds remaining.
 
The second quarter was all Husky defense. HBU held UIW to just one made field goal attempt in 12 tries while shooting five of 13 from the field including a made three, outscoring the Cardinals 13-2 to take a 28-17 lead into the half.
 
Defense was the story of the third quarter for the Huskies as well, holding the Cardinals to just three of 17 shooting for nine points. Vujakovic opened the scoring for the Huskies with a three on a dime from Abbey Sutherland before Kennedy Wilson ran into the paint and sunk a floater to give the Huskies their largest lead of the game, 33-17. The Cardinals cut slightly into the Huskies lead heading into the fourth quarter, outscoring HBU 9-5 over the final five minutes of the third.
 
UIW finally found their shooting stroke in the fourth quarter, but it would prove to be too little too late. Over the first seven minutes of the quarter, they shot six of 13 from the floor and held HBU to just two of nine shooting to go on a 15-4 run to make the Husky lead just one. Timia Jefferson put the Huskies on her back in the fourth, scoring seven of her team high 12 points in the period.
 
The Huskies held the Cardinals to just 29 percent shooting from the field and 12 percent from deep. Husky defenders forced 18 turnovers including 12 steals and three blocks. The UIW defense forced 15 turnovers including four blocks and seven steals.
 
"I am happy to come out with the win as UIW played so hard tonight. We need to do a better job of taking care of the ball moving forward," head coach Donna Finnie said after the game. "We have too many sloppy periods of play, but I am proud of the girls for staying focused down the stretch."
 
Jefferson led all Huskies' in scoring with 12 points followed by Vujakovic with 11 and Wilson with 10. Vujakovic also ended the night with a career high six steals. Sutherland had nine early points and added three rebounds, two assists, and a couple of blocks. Marilyn Nzoiwu cleaned up the boards for HBU with a game high 14 rebounds and added five points.
 
For the Cardinals, Jaaucklyn Moore had 16 points while Myra Bell had 11. Destiney Terrell had a team high 11 rebounds.
 
The Huskies return to action Saturday afternoon as they play for first place against the Islanders at 2 p.m. in Sharp Gym.