FARMERS BRANCH, Texas – The Dallas Christian College women's basketball team delivered a confident effort and was able to hang onto a 76-65 win over Ecclesia College on Saturday. The Crusaders claimed a 16-13 advantage after one quarter and would lead at the end of all periods that was headlined by a 24-15 edge in the third. After pulling away by as many as 22 in the fourth quarter with five minutes left, the Tigers clawed back with a 14-1 run to slash the score to 74-67 with 39 seconds. There were a couple of uneasy moments, but the Crusaders won for the first time since their season opener at Southwestern Adventist University in November.

Keiarra Rivers stood out among the quintet of double-digit scorers on the Crusaders with a team-leading 19 points and 16 rebounds. Both marks were personal-bests, as she did tremendous on the offense and also punched four blocks to give an impressive marker on the defensive side of the ball.

Rivers continues to be a force since joining the Crusaders at the DCC Christmas Classic, scoring double figures in all seven outings now.

"It has been good so far," Rivers reflected on being part of the DCC program. "Coach Tidwell just tells me to go hard and give the effort on the court."

Five players achieved double figure scoring with Mckayla Washington following behind Rivers with 16 points. Crystal Eureste poured 14 points in her debut. Micayal Havard delivered a season-best performance of 10 points and six rebounds. Her four assists were tops on paper. Shabaria Walter nearly had another DCC double-double with 10 points and nine boards.

The Crusaders shot 41.4 percent from the field, while Ecclesia slumped to a 28.2 percentage clip.

Neither team could get going as the first basket occurred two and a half minutes in when DCC's Havard nailed a jumper. The Royals answered with a three-pointer for the team's only lead that quarter. An 11-1 run lifted the home squad up 13-9 with 2:51 left in the opening quarter. Ecclesia closed the gap to two after seven straight points that had two three-pointers by Alysia Pickett.

The Crusaders gained half of their 16 points from Havard with eight of her 10 scoring tallies in the first frame.

In the second quarter it a was a hustle for control as both teams fought to regain the lead in this back-and-forth affair. After the fifth tie overall, Pickett lifted the visitors up 33-30 with a 1:11 left before halftime. Rivers scored on a jumper with 32 seconds to reduce the score to one-point behind. Washington stole the ball late on the clock and a last second layup as time expired pushed the team back up 34-33 at the break.

The momentum belonged to DCC in the third quarter, as a Washington layup made it 40-38 with 7:14 left that was part of an eventual 12-1 run. During the outburst, Rivers hit the tying layup and then came up with a huge block on the other side of the court that allowed Washington to succeed on the following basket for the lead. The Crusaders were up as many as 10 at the end of the period, because Washington was hot with another buzzer beater - this time from long range.

The Crusaders were able to stretch the lead to as many as 22 in the last quarter. It took the first five minutes of the quarter to get them to that biggest lead. Despite the late run by Ecclesia, the Crusaders held control until the final horn sounded.

Ecclesia only had one player reach double-digits in scoring, Pickett, and was responsible for 38 points thanks to 12-for-23 from the field and 10 for 19 shooting from downtown. No other Ecclesia player was in double-digits in the scoring column.

Rivers and Washington spoke afterwards about how the team's approach changed this game.

"Going to practice and playing hard," Washington stated. "Taking everything serious and having that mindset of wanting to win."

The Crusaders are eying the Regional Tournament, which will be hosted at the end of February at Dallas Christian.

"Go hard every single game," Washington said.

"Just take each game one-by-one," Rivers finished.

Dallas Christian is on the road for a conference tilt at Arlington Baptist University on Tuesday, January 19. It is the team's lone contest this week until a three-game home stand that covers Jan. 26, 29, and 30.