OMAHA, Neb. – Briar Cliff University tossed in 15 3-pointers to knock off College of Saint Mary Saturday.

The Chargers shot 48 percent from long distance to defeat the Flames 93-51 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference contest.

Briar Cliff was 52 percent from the floor and 67 percent from the free-throw line. The Flames were 33 percent for the afternoon, 38 percent from 3-point range and 54 percent from the charity stripe.

"We allowed them to shoot wide open 3s and – just like the first time we played them – they made a bunch of wide open 3s," CSM Coach Kirk Walker said.

The Flames played with the Chargers early on in the game. CSM was ahead 16-15 in the first quarter before Briar Cliff went on a 9-0 run to finish the first frame. The Chargers then outscored CSM 22-12 in the second quarter to lead 46-28 at the intermission.

"We have the ability to compete in this league and our team shows quality minutes of competing," Walker said. "Our issue is sustainability. We just struggle defensively to guard the perimeter and keep the ball out of the middle of the floor. We did those two things early in the game for about the first 13-14 minutes and then it got away from us right before half."

Briar Cliff went on to outscore the home team 22-17 in the third quarter and 25-6 in the final frame.

"Our coaching staff sees so many good things we do, but we just can't maintain it for long enough stretches," Walker said. "We did a much better job on the offensive boards today and really competed on the glass."

Tia Murray and Aleigha Jackson led the Flames with 12 points each. Sidney Anderson added nine points and Chainey Thompson canned six. Anderson pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and Murray added four assists.

"We got a spark offensively from Aleigha in her first game of the season," Walker said. "And I thought ShyAnne (Mayhue) really guarded well and kept a lot of balls alive on the offensive boards."

The Flames drop to 0-16 in the GPAC and 1-20 overall. Briar Cliff improves to 10-6, 15-7. CSM returns to action Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Concordia University.

"As we head into this last stretch of six games, I still believe we have a team that can win," Walker said. "We just have to execute the small details more consistently and get in the gym more so we can shoot it better. It's in each player to get it done."