COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Lady Tigers held Miles scoreless for a seven minute stretch in the second half and used a strong second-half defensive performance to take a 59-46 victory over the Lady Golden Bears on Tuesday night in the Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena.

The Lady Tigers broke away from a 25-25 second-half tie by turning up the defensive pressure. Benedict went on a 15-0 run, as the Lady Tigers forced six straight turnovers in that stretch. Benedict recorded 15 steals, 11 in the second half.

Benedict improved to 13-6 overall and 11-5 in the SIAC. Miles dropped to 12-8 overall and 10-6 in the SIAC.

Santera Grooms and Brittany Jackson led the Lady Tigers with 15 points each. Jackson also had a team-high seven rebounds. Alexus Jones recorded seven steals and a team-high six assists.

Enria Samuels led Miles with 13 points, while Courtney English added 10 points and six rebounds.

Benedict struggled in the first half, connecting on just 24 percent of its shots. That figure improved to 66.7 percent in the second half thanks to the defensive turnovers leading to more layups. Miles, on the other hand, shot 50 percent in the first half, but dropped to 25 percent in the second half.

Miles had its biggest lead at 19-12 in the first half, but Benedict cut the lead to 21-19 at the break.

After Miles tied the game at 25 at the 18:27 mark, Monique Weathers hit a 3-pointer. A Weathers steal led to a layup by Grooms. A Grooms steal led to a layup by Lateia Brailey. Brailey then stole the ball and scored on a layup. A steal by Cierra Moore led to a layup by Chelsey Peterson. Another layup by Moore gave Benedict a 40-25 lead with 12:03 to play. Miles broke the scoring drought with a pair of free throws with 11:27 to play.

Miles cut the lead to 53-43 with 4:32 left to play, but that was as close as the Golden Bears would get.

Benedict continues its homestand on Thursday against Tuskegee. Gametime is 5:30 p.m.