By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Overland Park, Kan.---Tatyana Reynolds (Rogers/Toledo, Ohio) buried the go-ahead 3-pointer with three minutes left to give the No. 5 Owens Community College women's basketball team a 64-57 win over Dean College in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Round of 16 at Johnson County Community College this afternoon.

Owens is now 27-6 overall, and they have won 17 straight. They advance to tomorrow night's quarterfinal against No. 4 seed Kansas City Kansas (30-3), who defeated Waubonsee Community College 72-53 in today's first game. The matchup begins at 9 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT) and will be broadcast on NJCAATV.com.

Prior to the shot from Reynolds, the game was either tied or Dean College held the lead for the previous 31 minutes.

Early on, Owens got off to a fast start by scoring seven of the game's first 10 points. Jeryn Reese (Mansfield/Mansfield, Ohio) completed a three point play to get things going. Mikayla Ward (Huron/Ypsilanti, Mich.) then converted a short jumper in the paint before Briana Williams (Stebbins/Dayton, Ohio) hit a driving layup on the right side to give Owens a 7-3 lead just 1:22 into the game.

Dean (24-5) responded with a jumper from Denisha Gardener, followed by a 3-pointer from Vianah Smith to take the lead. Ariel Bethea (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.) answered with a layup for Owens after Aysah Ingram (Trotwood Madison/Trotwood, Ohio) made one of two at the line, but Dean answered Bethea with a 10-0 run to open up an 18-10 lead with 1:27 left in the first.

Dean took a six point lead into the second quarter in large part due to 11 points off turnovers, and they didn't let up. The tournament's No. 12 seed stretched their lead to nine on two occasions early in the quarter.

Reese stopped the bleeding for Owens with back-to-back buckets in the paint, followed by a 3-pointer from Williams, which was just one of two total 3-pointers for Owens in the game, to pull Owens within two. Reese then crossed over a defender with a behind-the-back dribble and scored in the paint to tie the game at 23 apiece with 3:05 left.

Owens got a stop, but turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, and Dean capitalized with a 3-pointer from Smith. They led by four twice down the stretch in the half before Reese scored on a second chance layup with under 10 seconds left to pull Owens within two at the break.

Points off turnovers began to swing back in the favor of Owens in the second quarter as they held a 9-4 advantage. Also, Owens produced an 8-0 advantage in paint points in the second 10 minutes.

Reynolds scored on a layup to open the second half, which allowed fans to see the game's fifth tie. Dean responded well, though, and stretched their lead to eight with 4:40 left following a 3-pointer from Chelsea Johnson.

Owens was able to trim that deficit in half behind a jumper from Mekaila Grose (Madison/Mansfield, Ohio) and a layup off a turnover from Reynolds, but Gardener hit one of two at the foul line to give Dean a 50-45 lead through three.

In the opening minute of the fourth, Fataya Larry hit a layup to give Dean a seven point lead. However, Owens scored the game's next seven points to tie it up. Reese started the run with a layup, followed by a driving right side layup from Ingram, a steal and a layup from Lakyn Gulley (South Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.) and a free throw from Ingram.

Johnson, who finished 6-for-11 from 3-point range for Dean, answered with another shot from long range to end the run, but her team only scored two points the rest of the game.

Ingram trimmed the deficit to one with a layup via a drive and a dish from Williams, and Bethea tied the game by making one of two at the line with 3:34 left.

Following a missed 3-pointer from Johnson, Reynolds took a pass from Williams and buried a 3-pointer to give Owens its first lead since early in the first quarter. Two possessions later, Williams drove the right side for a layup and a five point lead. From there, Owens iced the game at the foul line.

In the fourth quarter, Owens held Dean to just seven points, outscored them 10-4 in the paint and 8-2 in bench points.

The long range shot was a huge factor in the game as Dean finished 9-for-22 (40.9 percent), which was their fourth highest percentage in a game this season. On the other side, Williams and Reynolds hit the only 3-pointers from Owens as they finished 2-for-12 (16.7 percent) from long range.

Reese totaled a team-high 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds for Owens. Williams chipped in 12 points and a team-high three assists, while Bethea and Ingram added nine and eight points, respectively. Both of those two also had six rebounds, while Bethea led her team with four steals.

Johnson led all scorers with 20 points, while Jordin Gomes had 13 and Smith had 10 for Dean. Gomes (12) and Denisha Gardener (10) led their team in rebounding.

Notes

Today was the first matchup in program history against Dean College. Tomorrow will be another first ever matchup against Kansas City Kansas, as well.

Gulley's two steals give her 99 this year. She is now one steal away from becoming just the second Owens women's basketball player in program history to swipe 100 in a season, and four away from breaking the single season record.

Furthermore, Gulley is one steal away from becoming the first player in program history to record at least 400 points, 100 rebounds, 100 steals and 100 assists in the same season.

Williams, meanwhile, now has 189 assists this year and 311 in her two-year career. She is 37 away from tying the single season program record and 18 away from tying the career mark.

Furthermore, Williams is 14 rebounds and three steals away from recording at least 600 points, 200 rebounds, 300 assists and 100 steals in her career.