Nebraska Wesleyan led by four points early in the second half and trailed by just four to No. 2 Briar Cliff with just over 10 minutes remaining but the Chargers pulled away late as they defeated the Prairie Wolves 96-67 in GPAC women's basketball action on Wednesday night (Jan. 18) at the Newman Flanagan Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

NWU trailed 35-33 at halftime as they hung right with the 2nd-ranked Chargers. The Prairie Wolves got four early points in the second half by Mallory Shanahan as NWU led 42-38 with 17:11 left in the game. BCU regained the lead and got up by eight, but a shot by Shanahan pulled NWU within four points at 56-52 with 10:46 remaining.

From there, Briar Cliff went on a 15-2 run to get up by 15 points and they would lead by over double digits the rest of the way. NWU managed just 15 points during the final ten minutes as the lead got out of hand.

Senior Shea Rasmussen had the hot hand for the Prairie Wolves scoring 25 points on 5-9 shooting from 3-point range. Shanahan also reached double figures with 14 points and five assists. NWU shot 48.0 percent from the field and went 12-13 from the free throw line.

Five players reached double figures for the Chargers who shot 50.7 percent from the floor. Kelsey Evans had 24 points to lead BCU.