GREENVILLE, Ill. - Zoe Essary scored a season-high 26 points to lead Mississippi University for Women to an 83-77 win at Greenville University, in a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) contest at H.L. Long Gym.  The Owls' (5-6, 4-3 SLIAC) victory over the Panthers (8-7, 5-3 SLIAC) was the squad's third conference win in their last four bouts.  
 
"Our kids showed a lot of toughness today, especially down the stretch in the fourth when Greenville started to make their comeback," MUW Head Coach Drew Johnson said. "We talk about not allowing past plays and games to negatively impact our mentality, and we epitomized that sentiment today. Anytime something didn't go our way, our bench was yelling 'next play', and that attitude allowed us to stand tall against adversity.
 
"Greenville is a great team who is extremely well-coached, and they're really hard to beat on their home floor. To be able to come in and win says a lot about our kids and our team. We are headed in the right direction, we just need to continue to put one foot in front of the other every single day. I really like who we are becoming."
 
A pressing MUW defense from the outset saw the team race out to an 18-10 lead less than seven minutes into the opening period. However, a casualty of the aggressive style was leading scorer Conley Langford being whistled for three fouls in that span, as well.
 
That left The W without Langford's services the rest of the half, as the Panthers clawed back and eventually overtake the guests, 32-31, with 3:12 left until the break.
 
However, MUW was able to wrest back the upper hand, thanks to its long-range shooting. Going 9-for-15 from three-point land in the first half, a 40-foot buzzer-beater by Jas Patrick as the half expired gave the Owls a 39-34 lead at the intermission.
 
MUW expanded on that with a brilliant third quarter coming out of the locker room, outscoring the hosts, 25-15. The Owls tallied the first five points of the period and opened the segment on an 11-3 run. A three-ball from Leileigh Moody (15 points, 6 rebounds) gave The W its largest lead of the game, 64-47, with 45 seconds left in the third.
 
Undeterred, the Panthers made their big run to open the fourth stanza, scoring nine unanswered points in just over a minute to trail, 64-58. With five minutes remaining in regulation, Greenville still trailed by just six points, 72-66. But an old fashioned three-point play by Langford extended the Owls' cushion to nine again (75-66).
 
With the Panthers employing the foul, MUW would not have a field goal the rest of the way, while GU made four from the floor. Following an MUW turnover with 29 seconds left, a Panthers' jumper made it an uncomfortable 81-77.
 
But The W defense stiffened and Claire Leak (6 points, 7 rebounds) drained two more free throws in the waning seconds to ice the victory.
 
Essary's big day was highlighted by a 6-of-11 shooting day. She also converted 11-of-12 free throws.
 
Langford, despite missing the bulk of the first half, finished with 16 points and a team-leading eight rebounds. Langford was a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe, on her way to her 19th-consecutive double-figure scoring game dating back to 2022-23.
 
Patrick was MUW's fourth double-figure scorer with 13 points, going 5-of-7 from the field. Patrick corralled seven boards. She also had a team-high four assists, as did Leileigh Moody and Leak.
 
As a team, The W set a school single-game record 12 three-point baskets made (eclipsing the 10 converted in the 2023-24 season opener versus Oglethorpe). The Owls made good on 50 percent of their 24 tries from long range.
 
In what turned into a foul-fest, especially in the second half, The W was 23-for-29 on free throws. The Panthers went 15-for-20 from the stripe.