AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Benedict College Lady Tigers used an 8-0 run in the second half to build an 11-point lead and held off a late rally to defeat Paine College 60-54 on Saturday in an SIAC women's basketball game.

Santera Grooms led Benedict with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Brittany Jackson also had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Alexus Jones added 10 points for the Lady Tigers, who improved to 16-8 overall and 14-7 in the SIAC.

Benedict had as much as a 10-point lead in the first half, only to see the Lady Lions close the game to 31-29 at the break. Paine's Quandra Rogers opened the second half with a 3-pointer to give Paine a brief lead at 32-31.

Grooms put the Lady Tigers back in front with a 3-pointer. Paine never led again, although the Lady Lions stayed close, with a jumper by Ciara Morris cutting the lead to 39-36 with 11:32 to play.

Benedict then reeled off eight straight points to take a 47-36 lead with 8:11 to play, with Grooms capping off the run with a jumper.

Paine closed the gap to 55-49 on a pair of free throws with 1:54 to play, but Jones hit a jumper to push the lead back to eight. With Benedict leading 58-50, Paine's Rodgers hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left, and a free throw by Ariel Brown made it 58-54 with 16 seconds left. Paine missed a layup with three seconds left, with Grooms getting the rebound. Grooms sealed the win with a pair of free throws with two seconds left.

Rodgers had 18 points to lead Paine, which fell to 4-20 overall and 4-16 in the SIAC.

Benedict won despite being outshot from the floor (34.6 percent to 34 percent); from the 3-point line (40 percent to 27.8 percent); from the free-throw line (70 percent to 65.5 percent) and out-rebounded 43-35. Benedict did force 20 Paine turnovers, which led to 24 points for the Lady Tigers.

Benedict wraps up its four-game road trip with a non-conference game at Concordia-Selma on Monday at 5:30 p.m.