GREENVILLE, Ill. -- The women's basketball team took an important SLIAC win on Wednesday night at H.J. Long Gymnasium when they topped Webster 73-68.

The Panthers jumped ahead in the first quarter, opening up a 17-6 lead in the first six and a half minutes of the game.  The Panthers ended with a first quarter lead of eight at 24-16.

Greenville added two points to their advantage in the second quarter and led 41-31 at halftime.

The third quarter saw Webster close the gap, eventually tying the score at 51-all.  The Panthers got a free throw from Megan Barrett and a layup from Morgan St. James to regain the lead 54-51 at the end of the period.

Greenville eventually pushed the lead back to 10 in the early moments of the fourth quarter, taking a 61-51 lead on Barrett's layup with 7:35 to play and later adding a three-point play from Wesley Woodard to go on top by 11.

Webster ended up tying the game at 66-all, but a pair of layup from St. James and Woodard gave the Panthers some breathing room and they knocked down three of four free throws in the waning moments for the win.

Woodard and St. James provided Greenville with its scoring punch.  Woodard posted a 17-point night, and St. James added 14 points.  Woodard totaled five rebounds.

Brittany Lopez was effective in her starting role, piling up seven assists, and Jantzen Michael contributed four steals.

The Panthers (12-3, 7-0 SLIAC) put some distance between themselves and Webster in the SLIAC standings as Webster fell to 6-2 in conference.  Greenville returns to the court on Saturday at Eureka at 1 p.m.