ODESSA, Texas - St. Edward's women's basketball was able to fend off a streaking Falcon team in the final quarter to win their sixth straight, downing UT Permian Basin 63-61 Thursday night. 

SEU went up eight in the first five minutes of the game, but UTPB battled back to even the 14-14 with five seconds to go. MATILDA SORIC was able to send the Hilltoppers into the locker room with a three on the final possession of the quarter. 

St. Edward's flirted with a double-digit lead two different times in the second quarter, going up by nine, but by the time the halftime buzzer sounded the lead was just one, 33-32. 

A three by UTPB's Munoz to open the third quarter gave the Falcon's the lead for the first time, 35-33. SEU's defense then took over, holding UT Permian Basin without a field goal for nearly nine minutes to post a double digit lead. The Hilltoppers led by as many as 15, 51-36, and held onto a ten point advantage, 51-41, by the end of the third. 

The Falcons were not deterred and pulled within two points for the first time, 56-54, with four minutes remaining. With a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left, UTPB was within one, 59-58. Two free throws by LAUREN CATHERMAN and a big defensive rebound by SAMMIE DUFEK followed by two free throws secured the win for SEU. 

St. Edward's shot 34.9 percent from the field and 25.8 percent from three-point range. Catherman led the way with 18 points, going 6-9 from the floor and 2-5 from long range. HALEY BLANKINSHIP added eight points while TAYLOR COCKERILL, MCCALL HAMPTON and ISABEL LANGENBERG added seven points each. 

Defensively, Dufek led with ten rebounds and posted three blocks to tie the St. Edward's record for career blocks with 144. 

The Hilltoppers improve to 6-2 on the year while UTPB falls to 1-8. SEU remains on the road to face Angelo State on Saturday at 2 pm in Brownwood, Texas.