Four players scored in double-figures for Buena Vista, which shot nearly 50 percent from the field in the second half, and the Beavers went on to edge NAIA #25 College of St. Mary on Thursday night, 82-75.  The win is the fifth overall for BVU.

Junior Susan Kies (Fonda, Iowa/Newell-Fonda) went over 20 points for the second straight game, finishing with 23, including eight from the free-throw line.  Fellow junior Malarie Gilley (Grand Junction, Iowa/East Greene) turned in a solid game, scoring 14 points and grabbing a career-best 14 rebounds for her second career double-double.  Senior Brooke Wehle (Denison, Iowa/Denison-Schleswig) scored 11 points in the second half and finished with 13 overall, while also grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out five assists.  Sophomore Becca Pennington (Mt. Ayr, Iowa/Mt. Ayr) chimed in with 10 points.

As a team, BVU out-rebounded the Flames, 56-38.

The Beavers trailed most of the first half before a late 11-4 spurt to close the half, gave them a slim 32-31 lead at the break.  The Flames then came out of the locker room and scored the first nine points of the second half to go up 40-32 and force a BVU timeout.

BVU stayed closed until pulling even at 47-47 on a three-pointer from Pennington nearly seven minutes into the half.  The game was back-and-forth most of the second half and was still tied at 64-64 with 6:34 to play.

Freshman Lexi Fisher (Glenwood, Iowa/Glenwood) hit a three-pointer to give BVU a 67-64 advantage before a pair of free-throws from Kies made it a five-point margin.  The Flames got back within three, but Kies drilled a key three-pointer for a six-point lead with less than four minutes to go.

CSM hung around, getting as close as 78-75 with 1:21 remaining, but four straight free-throws from BVU closed things out in the end.

Theresa Elworth turned in a game-high 35 points to lead the Flames (8-4).

Buena Vista, now 6-3, matches its longest winning streak (5) since winning five straight late in the 2009-10 season.  It will look to make it six in a row when it faces Cal Tech on Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm CT.  The game is the first of two contests for the Beavers out in California, as part of its Christmas Break trip.