ST. LEO, Fla. (December 14, 2018) – In what turned out to be the team's last of six exhibition games during the 2018-19 season, the Webber International University women's basketball team played well throughout but fell to NCAA Division-II Saint Leo University in a single-digit game, 62-53, on Friday night at the Marion Bowman Activities Center.

In what was the first meeting between the two teams since 2013, Webber stayed within 10 for all but one minute the entire game and got within five at 48-43 after a 7-0 run and five straight points by Briana Williams with 5:29 left to play.

Williams' fourth 3-pointer of the game then pulled Webber to within seven at 53-46 with 3:49 left, and then the Warriors got to within seven yet again at 56-49 after an and-one by Montrese Weller with less than two minutes to go.

With under 30 seconds left, Williams kept it going with her fifth 3-pointer to make it 58-52.

Head Women's Basketball Coach Grady Morrell said, "We are starting to come together as a team, and that makes me very excited."

In all, Williams would finish with a game-high 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field while adding three steals. Williams was the lone Warrior in double figures in scoring as Breyonna Reed matched Williams with three steals and also added five assists.

Williams accounted for five of the Warriors' seven 3-pointers with the other two coming from Dysheka Price, who finished with two three's for the second time in the last two exhibition games.

With both teams converting on 18 field goals, one of the key differences in the game was Saint Leo's strong 21-of-25 mark from the free throw line compared to a 10-of-15 mark from the charity stripe for Webber.

Earlier in the action, Webber led 2-0 on a layup by Taniya Patrick just like it did in its last exhibition game against an NCAA Division-II school two days ago.

After trailing by as much as five in the first quarter, the Warriors came back to tie it at 15-15 after a 7-2 run that was capped off by the first 3-pointer by Williams with 1:22 left in the period, and then a layup by Paris Copeland knotted the score up at 18 all after the first 10 minutes. Webber shot over 40 percent from the field in that opening quarter while holding the Lions to near 30 percent.

Then, three minutes into the second quarter, Price put the Warriors ahead by one at 21-20 with her first 3-pointer.

Less than four minutes later, Williams scored five straight points to make it 30-26 Lions and stop a 10-0 Saint Leo run, and then Price added a free throw with nine seconds left before halftime to make it 33-27 at the intermission.

Both teams shot nearly identical marks in the first half with each squad connecting on 10 total field goals and three 3-pointers while the Lions had one additional attempt in both categories; however, the Warriors only went to the foul line six times in the first half (4-6) while Saint Leo was the beneficiary of a 10-for-12 mark from the line in the opening half.

A 4-0 start to the second half for the Lions put the Warriors behind by 10 for a second time before a jumper by Williams with 5:27 to go in the third quarter. The two teams then went into a long field goal drought until Price connected on her second 3-pointer of the game to make it 41-34 Lions with just over a minute left in the quarter.

In addition to the Lions of Saint Leo, the Warriors have also faced off against Jacksonville University, Rollins College, Florida Tech, Stetson University and Lynn University in exhibition action this season.

Next up, Webber returns to regular-season action with two more games before the Christmas Holiday. The Warriors will host Toccoa Falls College from the state of Georgia at 12 p.m. on Monday, December 17, followed by welcoming Clarke University from Dubuque, Iowa, into the Sabbagh Athletic Center at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, December 19.