MARION, Ind. -- First place in the Mid-Central College Conference was on the line at Luckey Arena Wednesday night between a pair of highly ranked women's basketball programs.

No. 9-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University survived a last second 3-point attempt from No. 11-ranked University of Saint Francis (Ind.) to claim sole possession of first place with a 75-73 victory.

Saint Francis senior forward Bessie Jenkins' 3-point shot at the buzzer missed to close out the high energy contest. Jenkins finished the night with game-highs of 33 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cougars scored the game's first four points and never trailed until late in the first half. USF earned its highest lead of the night at 28-19 with 6:20 left before halftime.

But over the next three possessions, the Wildcats earned a field goal from junior forward LeAnn Douglas and 3-point buckets from freshman guard Taylor Goshert and junior guard Kayla Thompson to cut the deficit to one point (28-27).

IWU sophomore center Krystal Stoneking scored in the paint at the 2:45 mark to give the Wildcats' their first lead of the game at 31-30. The scored would be tied 33-33 at the half.

Indiana Wesleyan sophomore guard Stephanie Burtch's field goal at 16:39 gave IWU its first lead of the second half at 38-37. Indiana Wesleyan did not trail again for 10 minutes.

The Wildcats looked to put away the Cougars as the advantage was stretched to a high of eight points (51-43) with 11:55 remaining.

Saint Francis (16-10, 10-3 MCC) stuck around and eventually took a 59-58 lead following a pair of free throws by Jenkins.

The two teams traded two point baskets on their next possessions before a Burtch 3-pointer lifted IWU to a 63-61 lead. But Jenkins connected on the next USF possession to tie the score for the fourth time at 63-63.

Thompson drilled a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats the lead with 4:37 left on the clock. Her shot gave IWU a 66-63 lead that the Wildcats would not surrender again.

Indiana Wesleyan sophomore guard Rachel Steinbarger scored to give IWU a five point lead (74-69) with 45 seconds left but Saint Francis had one final stand.

USF junior guard Julie Seiss earned three free throws with 17 seconds remaining and hit on two of them to cut the deficit to 74-71. Douglas hit one of two free throws to up the IWU lead to 75-71. Jenkins quickly scored for Saint Francis as Indiana Wesleyan held a slim 75-73 lead with seven seconds to play.

After a Saint Francis foul, Indiana Wesleyan missed both free throws with six seconds to play. Saint Francis raced down the court and went for the win as Jenkins got a contested shot up right at the 3-point line. The shot missed as Indiana Wesleyan now sits alone atop the MCC standings.

Both teams shot very well on the evening as Indiana Wesleyan finished at 54.0-percent (27 of 50) from the field and 50.0-percent (9 of 18) from beyond the arc while Saint Francis was at 51.9-percent (28 of 54) from the floor and 50.0-percent (5 of 10) from deep. Neither team shot well from the free throw line with IWU at 48.0-percent (12 of 25) and USF at 66.7-percent (12 of 18).

Indiana Wesleyan junior forward Elaine Hessel led the Wildcats with 21 points. She added five rebounds and three assists. Douglas scored 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting in addition to four assists. Steinbarger added 11 points and four assists while Stoneking had team-highs of seven boards and five assists.

The Wildcats earned 22 assists on 27 field goals.

Indiana Wesleyan (22-5, 11-2 MCC) will play their final regular season road game on Saturday, February 13 when the Wildcats travel to No. 24-ranked Marian (Ind.) University. Tip-off is schedule for 1 p.m.

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