WARRENSBURG, Mo. — The Pittsburg State University women's basketball team rallied from an early 10-point deficit and battled back to knock off No. 4 University of Central Missouri, 68-63, Wednesday (Feb. 7) at the UCM Multipurpose Building.

The Gorillas (18-5, 10-3 MIAA) snapped the Jennies (19-2, 13-1 MIAA) 16-game winning streak and handed UCM its first loss in conference play.

Mikaela Burgess scored a team-leading 20 points for the Gorillas, while Meghan Maher added 14 key points including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 45 seconds to play in the game. Maher scored all 14 of her points in the second half. Shelby Lopez chipped in with 12 points, while Madison Northcutt finished with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

UCM rushed out to a 11-2 lead against Pitt State. The Gorillas scored the first basket of the game but then missed their next 11 shots from the floor as the Jennies put together an 11-0 run. Pitt State battled back from the slow start to draw within four points, 19-15, at the end of the first quarter.

The Jennies still led 31-28 at halftime and 47-44 after three quarters of play. Pitt State, which led for just a total of 2:56 of game time in the contest, finally retook a short-lived lead, 51-49, on a Northcutt layup with 6:59 to play. UCM's Paige Redmond, who led all scorers with 27 points, countered with a 3-pointer 15 seconds later to put the Jennies back in front.

The lead changed hands two more times with UCM's Sydney Crockett giving the Jennies a 63-62 edge with 1:55 to go. Following a pair of misses – by Burgess and UCM's Kayonna Lee – Maher hit the final go-ahead 3-pointer with 45 ticks left. Redmond missed a 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining and Burgess hit a pair of free throws with 26 ticks left to extend the Gorillas' lead to 67-63.

Crockett missed a 3-pointer for the Jennies with 18 seconds to go and Paige Imhoff sealed the win for Pitt State by making one of two free throws with 14 seconds to play.

The Gorillas owned a 41-25 rebounding advantage over the Jennies, including a 13-4 edge on the offensive glass. Both teams made 25 shots from the floor – Pitt State converted nine 3-pointers while UCM made just four shots from distance.