BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The 14^th-ranked Benedict College women's basketball team advanced to the SIAC Tournament championship game for the fourth year in a row with a 65-58 victory over Miles College in a semifinal matchup on Friday in the Bill Harris Arena.

Terri Jacobs led a second-quarter charge for the Lady Tigers, as Benedict outscored Miles 20-9 in the quarter to take a 34-29 lead at the half. Benedict held off a stubborn Lady Golden Bears squad in the second half to make the title game for the fourth straight time. Benedict beat Albany State for the championship in 2014, and lost to Clark Atlanta in 2013 and to Albany State in last year's title game.

Benedict, now 26-2, will face Kentucky State in Saturday's championship game at 4 p.m. Central Time. Benedict lost to Kentucky State 74-73 on a buzzer-beating shot on the road in December in their only meeting during the regular season.

"It's a different team than last year, and the year before that," Benedict head coach James Rice said. "These young ladies are special. We can learn from our experience last year. We came into the game ready, but mentally, we were not ready. It's my job not to let that happen again, and make sure they're mentally ready."

Miles took an early lead and had a 20-14 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Benedict scored the first eight points of the second quarter for a 22-20 lead. Jacobs scored 12 of her 16 first-half points in the second quarter. Her jumper with 4:40 on the clock gave Benedict a 28-27 lead and the Lady Tigers never trailed again in the contest.

Benedict led 34-29 at the half. A layup by Jacobs in the third quarter gave the Lady Tigers their largest lead, 42-30, with 6:51 remaining in the period.

The Lady Golden Bears cut the lead to 59-57 with 3:42 left in the game on a pair of free throws by Amoni Walker. KaDeeja Vaughn answered with a three-point play for the Lady Tigers. Another free throw by Walker made it 62-58 with 2:49 left to play. Down the stretch, Miles missed three field goals, with two of those blocked by Vaughn, and had a turnover. Regime McCombs and Jacobs hit three free throws in the final 14 seconds to seal the victory.

"It was a really tough game," Rice said.

Benedict used its size advantage on both offense and defense. The Lady Tigers outscored Miles 40-16 in the paint, outrebounded them 40-35, and held Miles to just 27.7 percent shooting. Miles had the advantage at the free-throw line, going to the line 39 times and connecting on 30.

Miles, the No. 2 seed from the West Division, wraps up its season at 17-12. Tierra Williams led the Lady Golden Bears with 16 points.