The Urbana University women’s basketball team defeated visiting Shepherd, 97-92, on Saturday for its third straight win, while improving to 9-9 in Mountain East Conference play.

Senior Kennedy Boggs had a career day with 31 points, including 16 in the third quarter, while leading a host of Blue Knights with impressive stat lines. Boggs flirted with a triple-double by posting eight rebounds and team-high seven assists.

UU (10-12, 9-9) built its largest advantage when it led by 16 points with 6:32 remaining, but the Blue Knights were forced to cling to their lead following a furious 20-8 Shepherd run. SU’s Cara Mason sparked the visitors with 14 points in the final period, while Liz Myers cut the UU lead to just four (90-86) on a jumper with 1:45 left.

The Blue Knights were solid at the free-throw line, which has been a major strength this season, and were able to fend off the visitors by making 10 of 11 down the stretch.

Sophomores Jazmyn Haley (16 points/13 rebounds) and Stefanie Davis (12 points/10 rebounds) each registered double-double efforts for UU. Freshman Danie Shafer put up 23 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, and senior Tori Purk also reached double figures with 11 points.

UU shot a season-high 53 percent (36 of 68) from the floor, with the majority of the points coming from the interior off of penetration to the basket. The Blue Knights out-scored the Rams 54-48 in the paint and 12-9 on second-chance opportunities.

Shepherd (5-19, 4-14) led by three early in the second quarter, until UU battled back to go up 42-38 at halftime. The Blue Knights led the entire second half, and limited the Rams to 42-percent shooting.

SU’s Morgan Arden shot lights out by hitting 6 of 9 from three-point range while scoring a game-high 34 points.

With only four regular-season games left, UU sits tied for fifth place in the MEC standings with West Virginia State and UVa-Wise.

The Blue Knights will travel next week for a pair of crucial league games at Concord (Thursday) and UVa-Wise (Saturday).

UU men fall to 1-22

Steffen Davis scored 24 points and Skyler Roman added 20 to lead visiting Shepherd to an 86-72 win over UU on Saturday at the Grimes Center.

Jahmere Howze had 16 points and Carlas Jackson added 14 for the Blue Knights (1-22 overall). Austin Adams had 13 points, while Matt Csuhran and Dmitri Abner each had 10.