FAYETTE, Iowa – Upper Iowa's Whitney Kieffer hit the game-winning field goal with 1.2 seconds remaining to lift the Peacocks to a 63-62 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball on Friday night.

UIU (2-17, 2-13 NSIC) rallied from a 13-point deficit in the final six minutes and 31 seconds to earn the victory and extend SMSU's losing streak to six straight.

SMSU (5-13, 4-10 NSIC) was led by Abby Kenealy, who recorded her second double-double of the season, with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Ellen Degler, making her first career start for the Mustangs, added her first career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

SMSU held a 54-27 rebound advantage, including 23 offensive rebounds, but the Mustangs committed 20 turnovers and missed a clutch free throw in the final minute. 

The game was a back-and-forth affair for much of the opening half before SMSU used a late run to take a 38-34 halftime lead.  With the score tied at 26 with five minutes and 45 seconds left in the half, Ellen Degler started an SMSU run with a field goal and was followed by baskets by Abby Kenealy and Courtney McCarthy to take a 32-26 lead with four minutes left in the half.

The Peacocks would cut the lead to 34-33, before the Mustangs closed the half with a Jessie Watts field goal to take a four-point halftime advantage.

SMSU started the second half strong and built a 57-43 lead with 9:07 left in the game following a Degler field goal.  Hope Bonlander gave SMSU a 58-45 lead with 6:13 remaining after hitting one of two free throws, but it was all UIU in the next four minutes, rallying with 14 straight points to take a 59-58 lead at the 2:17 mark.

SMSU's Taylor Voss ended the streak, picking up an offensive rebound and basket with 1:34 left to give the Mustangs a 60-59 lead.  Following a missed field goal by UIU, Sam Lynn drilled a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 62-59 with 57 seconds remaining.

SMSU missed a free throw with 43 seconds remaining and UIU quickly answered with a field goal to trim the lead to 62-61 with 37 seconds left.  Following a missed field goal attempt by Kenealy with seven seconds on the clock, UIU grabbed the rebound and called a timeout to set-up for the final possession.  With the clock winding down, Kieffer drove the left-side of the lane and banked in the game-winning basket with 1.2 seconds remaining to give UIU its second straight victory over SMSU in Fayette.

SMSU finished the game shooting 39 percent (24 of 61) and was just 2 of 18 from 3-point range.  UIU shot 41 percent (24 of 58) from the field and made just 3 of 18 3-pointers. 

Southwest Minnesota State will conclude its four-game road trip tomorrow night with a match-up versus Winona State (12-8, 7-7 NSIC) starting at 5 p.m.