HOBOKEN, NJ – Brianna Horton (Verona, NJ/Verona) hit a clutch jump shot in the final minute as the Wilkes University women's basketball team  earned a 50-47 victory at Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) action. The win at Canavan Arena propelled the Colonels to the No. 5 seed in next week's conference tournament.

Wilkes improved to 7-9 in the MAC Freedom and 8-14 overall. Stevens dropped to 12-4 in the league but maintained the No. 2 seed. The Ducks are now 17-6 overall.

Wilkes earned its highest finish in the conference standings since the 1996-97 season when the Colonels were the fourth seed. Wilkes will be making only its fifth trip to the conference postseason tournament in the 62-year history of the program and the first in 25 years.

Jordyn Jennings (York, PA/Northeastern) gave the Colonels their first lead with a layup to make the score 8-6 with 5:01 left in the first quarter. Kendra Smith (Hughesville, PA/Hughesville) then extended the lead with a three. A jumper at the buzzer by Stevens cut the Wilkes lead to 12-8 at the end of the first 10 minutes.

A three by Katelyn Kinczel (Highland Heights, OH/Mayfield) and then a layup by Erin Shober (Reading, PA/Wilson) at the beginning of the second quarter pushed the lead to 17-8. Later in the quarter a 7-0 run on a layup by Shober, a three by Horton, and another layup by Shober gave the Colonels an 11-point lead at 24-13 with 4:52 left until half. Wilkes would go into the locker room leading 28-19.

A Jennings jumper and two free throws by Smith gave Wilkes a 15 point lead at 40-25 with 2:19 left in the third quarter. Two Horton free throws pushed the Colonels lead to a game-high 16 points at 42-26 with 50 seconds on the third quarter clock and the Colonels led 42-28 heading to the fourth.

A three by Stevens cut the Wilkes lead to four points at 47-43 with 3:06 left and a layup with 1:57 showing made the score 48-45.

Horton then nailed a corner jumper as the shot clock was winding down off a feed from Smith after she drove into the paint and kicked it out to put Wilkes up two possessions at 50-45 with 39 seconds left. After the Ducks made two free throws they elected to not foul and Wilkes ran the clock down to two seconds before turning it over. Baylee Guedes (Thompson, PA/Palmerton) then blocked the Ducks three-point attempt at the buzzer to seal the Colonels victory.

Shober led Wilkes with 10 points while Horton and Jennings added nine each. Horton and Julia Marino (Turnersville, NJ/Washington Township) led the way with six rebounds and Marino and Smith had three assists.

Meghan Douglas scored a game-high 15 points and Keeley Coval added 12 for the Ducks. Douglas also had a game-high nine rebounds.

The Colonels defense held Stevens to 28.6% shooting and forced 18 turnovers. The Ducks went 10-for-19 from the free-throw line while the Colonels went 8-for-10.

Fifth seeded Wilkes will now travel to No. 4 seed Misericordia University for a MAC Freedom Quarterfinal game on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in Dallas, Pa.