The Culver-Stockton women's basketball team captured its 20th victory of the season with a 79-75 victory over Clarke University to close the regular season Saturday afternoon at Charles Field House.

It is the first time since the 2019-20 campaign  that the Wildcats have won 20 games in a season. C-SC ends the regular season with 20-8 overall record and a 14-6 mark in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.

The Wildcats will host a Heart Tournament quarterfinal game this Wednesday, Feb. 25, against Missouri Valley College. Game time is 7 p.m. at Charles Field House.

Winning Saturday's game wasn't easy as the Wildcats had to overcome a six-point deficit with seven minutes remaining to claim the victory.

After taking that six-point lead, Clarke held the advantage for the majority of the fourth quarter until a basket by Nevaiah Bell-Tenner gave the Wildcats a 71-70 lead with 1:26 to play.

Back-to-back baskets by Bell-Tenner and Allysa O'Connor extended the C-SC lead to 75-70 with 33 seconds left.

The Pride cut the margin to 75-73 on a 3-pointer with 29 seconds remaining; however, the Wildcats made four consecutive free throws in the final 22 seconds to seal the victory.

Chloe Burnham came off the bench to score a season-high 19 points and and grab a team-high seven rebounds to lead the Wildcats. Bell-Tenner added 15 markers while O'Connor chipped in with 13 points.

C-SC, despite a size disadvantage, out-rebounded the Pride 40-28 and had 16 offensive rebounds that led to a 20-4 edge in second chance points. 

The Pride outscored C-SC 36-15 from the 3-point are, but the Wildcats countered that by holding a 26-9 advantage at the free throw line.