It took a while for the Westminster Blue Jays to get a big lead to stick Wednesday night against the Iowa Wesleyan Tigers.
But in the final couple minutes of the third quarter, Westminster put the game away with a 9-0 run on its way to an 85-69 win in the first round of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament at Westminster Gym.
The No. 2 seed Blue Jays opened the game with a 6-0 run, but Iowa Wesleyan took its only lead at 19-17 in the final minute of the opening quarter.
Reese Arnold closed the quarter with a 3-pointer for a 22-19 Westminster advantage.
The Blue Jays kept the No. 7 seed Tigers from scoring during a three-minute period that spanned the first and second quarters, leading to a 26-19 margin.
Avylina Powel-Qualo made a layup a minute into the second quarter to cap a 9-0 run.
The Tigers got back to within three at 28-25 before the Blue Jays rolled off eight straight points for a 36-25 lead.
The score was 38-31 at halftime.
Westminster led 59-47 following a Sydney Farrar three-point play, Iowa Wesleyan's final points of the third quarter.
Makayla Jackson scored the game's next four points, Shelby Kurtz made a 3-pointer and Powel-Qualo added a layup to push Westminster's lead to 68-49 at the end of three quarters.
Powel-Qualo tied Iowa Wesleyan's Morgan McCrea for a game-high 20 points. She also had 11 rebounds for a double-double for the Blue Jays (10-3, 7-2).
Arnold had 18 points and four assists, Abby Nichols recorded a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, and Jackson finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Kurtz tallied 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Westminster will host No. 3 seed Greenville at 7 p.m. Friday in the tournament semifinals.