HANOVER, Ind.—The Transylvania University women's basketball team escaped Hanover with a thrilling 94-93 win on Wednesday, picking up their first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference win. Guard Kristen Hayes hit a game winning two-point jump shot as time expired to propel the Pioneers to victory.

The game-winning basket was one of eight field goals Hayes made to go along with seven free throws for a game-high 24 points. She was joined in double figures by guard Katelyn Smith and forwards Rachel Cox, Carlee Clemons and Shelby Gransbery who scored 19, 13, 10 and 10 respectively.

The Pioneers outperformed the Panthers in nearly every facet of the game, winning the battle in field goal percentage, rebounding and assists en route to the victory but had to overcome a bout of turnovers to seal the win. Transylvania pulled down 42 boards, dished out 20 assists and shot 53 percent (34-64) from the field, but committed 23 turnovers during the contest, allowing Hanover to stick around and mount a fourth quarter comeback.

Transy jumped out to three point advantage in the first quarter, shooting 50 percent (9-18) in the period as they took a 21-18 lead into the first intermission. The second quarter saw much of the same as Transylvania upped its shooting percentage, going 10-19 from the floor and 4-8 from three-point range, led by seven points each from Smith and Cox. Defensively, the Pioneers held Hanover to just nine made field goals in the quarter, allowing Transy to extend its lead to 46-40 entering halftime.

In a tightly-contested third quarter, the Pioneers saw their shooting percentage fall to 43 percent (7-16) but the defense held Hanover in check, allowing the Panthers to shoot just 33 percent (6-18) in the period. Despite the percentage advantage, seven Transylvania turnovers helped Hanover stick around in the frame.

Entering the fourth quarter, the Pioneers held a 64-56 lead but a hot shooting period from the Panthers quickly diminished the Transy lead. Transylvania extended its lead to 11 with nine minutes to play after Smith hit a pair of free throws and Cox added a free throw of her own. A cold spell offensively for the Pioneers over the next three minutes allowed Hanover to cut that lead down to four with 6:42 to play in the game.

With two minutes to play in the game, a Gransbery layup and two Smith free throws gave the Pioneers a seven-point cushion at 90-83. Hanover caught fire during their next three possessions, knocking down two three-pointers and a jumper to take the lead 91-90 with 42 seconds remaining.

Hayes was fouled with 33 seconds to play and went to the line, where she drained both of her free throws to push the Pioneers back in front but Hanover responded with two free throws of their own to take a 93-92 lead with 19 seconds left, setting the stage for Hayes' heroics.

The game-winning shot gave Transylvania their fourth win of the season and moved their record to 4-3 and 1-1 in HCAC action. The Pioneers return to the court on Saturday as part of a men's/women's doubleheader at Anderson. That action is slated to tip-off at 2:00pm.