The Saints led from nearly start to finish, but a late push in the final three minutes gave Ozark Christian College a 73-72 victory over Central Christian College of the Bible's women's basketball team on Saturday at OCC.

Central Christian (4-6, 0-1 MCCC) shot 49 percent in the first half and enjoyed a 40-34 lead at intermission. They pushed their lead up to 61-50 by the end of the third quarter and took a 14-point advantage with 8:22 left to play.

From there, Ozark Christian (7-4, 1-0 MCCC) used a 21-8 run to finish out the game, including an 11-3 surge in the last 3:28. With 33 seconds reaming, Madison Schaper scored the final basket of the night, giving the Ambassadors their first lead since the opening quarter.

The Saints shot just 36 percent in the third quarter and 25 percent in the fourth. They managed to sink just one of their 13 attempts from behind the arc.

The Ambassadors only shot 35 percent for the game, 24 percent (7-for-29) from 3-point range and 44 percent (10-for-23) from the free throw line. Their big advantage was second chance opportunities where they hauled in 20 offensive rebounds.

Autumn Gunter led the Saints with 23 points. Lauren Mills added 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Ta'Lor Branch scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Makenzie Purinton led Ozark Christian with 17 points on 4-for-8 shooting from behind the arc. Blake Burns scored 16 points and Schaper had 12.

The CCCB women play one final game before taking a break for Christmas. They host Nebraska Christian College on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m.

Vanessa Oyola scored a season-high 32 points and Autumn Gunter dropped in 27 points to go with 12 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as Calvary University topped Central Christian College of the Bible, 109-95, on Thursday evening in the Ferneau Center.

The Saints (3-5) jumped out to a 26-24 lead at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 12 in the second quarter thanks to 60 percent shooting from the field and 47 percent (9-for-19) from behind the arc.

Central Christian's 51-46 lead at the half was erased by a 33-19 surge in the fourth quarter by Calvary (4-2), who was led by Taylor Hunter with a game-high 40 points. The Saints never regained the lead in the final period despite cutting the deficit to seven.

Ta'Lor Branch added 15 points and Lauren Mills scored nine. The Saints shot 49 percent from the field to the Warriors' 46 percent, but were crippled by 27 turnovers.

Calvary finished with 14 steals on the night. They had three other players reach double figures as Avery Kornstad scored 19, and Shalom Sutcliffe and Anna Holloway added 13 points each.

The game did not count in the conference standings despite it being between two Midwest Christian College Conference members. The conference game between the two teams take place on Jan. 28 in Kansas City.

The Central Christian women are off until Dec. 2 when they travel to Lincoln, Neb., to face Union College in a doubleheader with the men.

Playing for the third straight day, the Central Christian College of the Bible women's basketball team couldn't get the offense going in a 69-47 loss to MacMurray College on Saturday in the Sleep Inn Classic.

The Highlanders (1-0) took a 14-10 lead at the end of the first quarter before the Saints (2-3) managed to go on an 8-2 run to take an 18-16 advantage midway through the second frame. However, MacMurray answered the surge and went into the locker room up, 32-24.

Central Christian narrowed the deficit to five points early in the third quarter, but another momentum swing gave the hosts a commanding 50-31 advantage heading into the final period.

Just two days after sinking an eye-opening 20 3-pointers in a win at home over Union College (Neb.), the Saints finished 1-for-16 from behind the arc against MacMurray, a member of the NCAA Division III.

Ta'Lor Branch led the way with 17 points. Kasandra Lazcano scored nine points and Lauren Mills grabbed 10 rebounds.

Savanah Moore scored 17 points off the bench to lead MacMurray.

A day earlier, Central Christian lost to Monmouth College (Ill.), 92-43, in the first game of the Sleep Inn Classic. The Scots, also an NCAA DIII member, controlled things from start to finish, holding leads of 22-12 after one quarter, 43-24 at the half, and 70-38 at the end of the third quarter.

Vanessa Oyola led the Saints with 10 points. Branch added nine points and eight rebounds.

The Saints return to action at home on Tuesday when they face Hannibal-LaGrange University at 6 p.m.

The Saints trailed for the majority of the game, but took control at just the right time.

A 33-point fourth quarter fueled Central Christian College of the Bible's 86-79 victory over Lincoln Christian University on Tuesday at the Laughlin Center. It was the first win of the season for the Saints and the first career win as a head coach for Meagan Henson.

The Saints (1-1) trailed 18-12 after one quarter and 39-35 at halftime before facing an 11-point deficit with 2:50 remaining in the third quarter. A late push by Central Christian at the end of the period made it a 58-53 game heading into the final frame.

The Saints outscored the Red Lions, who are members of the NAIA, 33-21 in the fourth quarter, then scored the final eight points of the game to overcome a one-point deficit in the final 54 seconds.

Vanessa Oyola scored a game-high 26 points, including key three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Autumn Gunter added 21 points and 10 assists, followed by Kasandra Lazcano with 15 points and Ta'Lor Branch with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Mikayla Smith led Lincoln Christian (0-1) with 22 points and 10 assists.

Central Christian shot just 39 percent from the field and 27 percent from 3-point range in the first half, but improved both of those marks to 47 percent in the second half. They also managed to finish 16-for-20 from the free throw line on the night.

The Saints start a tough stretch of playing three straight days when they host Union College (Neb.) at home on Thursday at 5 p.m. On Friday and Saturday they play in the Sleep Inn Classic in Jacksonville, Ill., against NCAA DIII opponents Monmouth College and the hosts MacMurray College.