MONTICELLO, Ark. – The University of Arkansas at Monticello women's basketball team earned a big Great American Conference win over Southern Nazarene University Thursday night at the Steelman Field House in Monticello, Arkansas, 70-60. The Blossoms had a trio of players finish in double-figures in Mackenzie Tillman (21 pts), Berniezha Tidwell (19 pts) and Mekaylan Hicks (10 pts).
 
UAM and SNU played a tug-of-war in the first quarter, but the Blossoms got the upper-hand late and never looked back. Down by five with 3:39 left in the period, Nina Kizzee drained a jumper. Tidwell followed with one of her own and got fouled to go the line. She hit the free throw to tie the game and the Blossoms and Crimson Storm would head into the second quarter level at 15.
 
Right out of the gate in the second, Jaida Muhammad drained a bucket, and Tidwell hit a deep three to put the Blossoms up five. A little later, she put UAM up five again on a nice jumper.
 
As time dwindled, Tillman got hot to conclude the half, and Hicks got in on the action to help the Blossoms take a 37-32 lead into halftime.
 
With some solid offensive play to start the third, the Blossoms made it a 10-point advantage. UAM kept relying on great play from Tillman, Tidwell and Muhammad all snagging buckets in the third helping them to a 53-48 lead into the fourth.
 
UAM got the lead to its highest of the game with a little over three minutes remaining. Much of that was due to some solid play by Hicks who got to the line and hit both free throws giving the Blossoms a 68-56 lead. Dezirae King also got it back up to 12 a little later with a jumper in the paint. SNU got one more bucket in the final minute of the game but it was not enough as UAM went on to win, 70-60.
 
Tillman's 21 points led all scorers as she also tallied three rebounds and was 4-of-4 at the charity stripe.
 
Tidwell earned a double-double scoring 19 points and snagging a team-high 11 boards.
 
Hicks did it both on the offensive and defensive side finishing with 10 points, six rebounds, three blocks and one steal for good measure.
 
With the win, the Blossoms improve to 12-5 overall and 7-4 in GAC play, while Southern Nazarene falls to 11-4 overall and 8-3 in league contests.
 
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UAM will hope to keep this winning homestand going on Saturday when it hosts Oklahoma Baptist University. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.