There was no blowout victory for Incarnate Word on the road against Newman University on Saturday, but the women's basketball team fought back from a 12-point deficit in the second half with clutch free throws to pull out the 47-43 victory.

Hayley Harvey and Cinnamon Kava led the Cardinals (14-6, 8-1) with 14 points each, with Harvey grabbing 10 rebounds for a double-double.

With 9:32 to play, Newman led 37-25, but UIW outscored the Jets 22-5 the rest of the way, with 13 of those points coming from free throws.

The Cardinals took over the lead with 22 seconds left to play on two free throws by Kava. A missed shot and turnover by Newman (stolen by UIW's LaShae Woodard) with 8 seconds to play resulted in Incarnate Word getting back to the charity stripe and sealing with win thanks to senior Nia Torru.

Kava was 4-for-5 from the line and Torru hit 4-of-4 attempts from the line in the span of time that saw UIW come back and take the game from the Jets.

The victory is made even more important as St. Mary's University – which had been tied with UIW for first place in the Heartland Conference - lost on the road to Lincoln University, 71-56 – the team that UIW defeated, 59-46, on Thursday night.

Incarnate Word now stands alone in first place with an 8-1 record and host four straight conference home games. The next opponent for the Cardinals is Oklahoma Panhandle State, which comes to the McDermott Center on Thursday night for a 5 p.m. game.