You'd have thought wrong.

"My girls were out there just for the privilege of playing basketball," Allen said, following Tabor's 73-70 victory.

"What other motivation do you need? It shouldn't take a whole lot of external gimmicks to get people to come out and play."

The win kept the ninth-ranked Bluejays undefeated at home this season and their hopes alive of a high seeding at next month's national tournament at Sioux City.

The Bluejays built a 21-14 lead with 8:58 to play in the half. Stacie Herman, conference freshman-of-the-year candidate, scored nine of Tabor's 11 points in one stretch.

But the Braves, who entered the game at 12-5 in KCAC play, didn't buckle in front of the large Tabor crowd. Instead, they pieced together a 17-3 run over the next five minutes to take a 31-24 lead with 4:02 left in the half.

The lead would reach eight with just three seconds left in the half before Herman hit a runner at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 37-31.

Allen said although his team didn't play to its capabilities in the half, it wasn't all their fault.

"We played a really good team," he said. "We didn't play a very good half, but we played well enough to be within reach.

"We turned the ball over (nine times in first half), and we didn't execute on offense," he said. "They took us out of everything we like to do. We didn't cut hard, we didn't screen and we didn't move the ball. We just forced too many shots."

After Ottawa ran its lead to nine points early in the second half, Tabor began it long assent up the hill, finally catching the Braves at 59 with just 6:34 remaining on Herman's 3-point bomb.

A pair of free throws by Erica Hemmert a minute later staked Tabor to a lead it wouldn't give up the rest of the evening.

Tabor built a 70-65 lead with just over a minute to play, but a pair of Ottawa free throws and a 3-point rainbow from Brittany Broyles, cut the lead to 71-70 with 38 seconds to play.

But Erica Dechant hit a 12-foot jumper from the right wing with 18 seconds left to put Tabor on top by three.

Broyles' last-second 3-pointer was off the mark as Tabor hung on for the win.

Herman led Tabor with 23 points, Jill Hein added 17 and Anderson chipped in 16 points and 12 rebounds.

"Stacie is playing with tremendous confidence," Allen said. "She didn't come off the court in the final 20 minutes and she didn't have a single turnover in that time.

"Jill had her best game since early in the season," he added. "She just got into a rhythm and our players started looking for her. She was so patient in this game and she took what came."

For Anderson, it marked the sixth time this season she's recorded double figures in both scoring and rebounding.

"It was really neat because Donya's mom and dad were here tonight for the first time," Allen said. "She took a little bit to get going, but I have so much confidence in her I left her in the game because I knew she'd come around-and she did."

Tabor connected on 27 of 58 (47 percent) of its field-goal attempts while limiting Ottawa to 39 percent (24-61).

With their 19th straight win, Tabor improved to 24-4 overall and concluded the KCAC season at 17-1. Ottawa fell to 16-13 overall and 12-6 in conference play.

"I told the players in the locker room afterward about the logistics of the national tournament," Allen said. "I wanted to get that out of the way because come Tuesday, we want to focus on winning the conference tournament.

"We don't have to worry about going to nationals-we know we're going to do that. We just want to worry about our next big game and that's Thursday night."

Sterling-Not since the days of All-AmericanSusan Decker in the 1991-92 season have the Tabor Bluejay women won a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference championship in basketball.

The wait ended on Thursday.

By its 64-50 win over second-place Sterling in Hillsboro, Tabor was crowned the 2004-05 KCAC champion, a victory which also punched the Bluejays' tickets for the NAIA national tournament March 9-15 in Sioux City, Iowa.

"In all honesty, in my coaching career, I'd have to call this the most special moment so far," a thankful coach Rusty Allen said afterward. "It means a whole lot.

"There's a saying in basketball circles these days that people who work the hardest are the last to give up-that's our theme and it pays off," he added. "To me, that's why it means so much because we have just worked so hard together to get this."

But the defending conference champions didn't go down without a fight.

The lead went back and forth five times in the first five minutes of the game. It wasn't until Laura Frees scored on a traditional three-point play with the score tied at 7 that 16th-ranked Sterling began to assert itself.

A 9-2 run produced Sterling's largest lead of the half (and game) at 16-9 with 12:51 left.

Still trailing 21-16 with 8:38 to play, the Bluejays fortunes began to change behind the strong offensive presence of Donya Anderson down low and the nifty ball handling and shooting of freshman Stacie Herman. The ensuing 19-4 run put Tabor on top, 35-25, by halftime.

Anderson hit six points inside the paint while Herman drilled back-to-back 3-pointers less than a minute apart to stake Tabor to the 10-point lead.

Allen said, as has been the case all year, his teams depth was key to the scoring run.

Jill Hein began the second half with a bucket to increase Tabor's lead to 12 points, 37-25. But the Warriors, behind seven points from Jill Swisher, sliced that lead to just two points, 46-44, with 10:06 remaining.

Erica Hemmert contributed four points to an 8-0 response that put Tabor back on top, 54-44, with 7:06 to play.

Down the stretch, Anderson scored six points and Hemmert and Shannon Kroeker each added a pair a free throws as the Bluejays withstood the comeback attempt and posted the 14-point win.

Anderson led Tabor with 16 points and 15 rebounds-her fifth double/double of the season. Hemmert added 14 points, Herman 12 and Jill Hein 10.

Allen said balanced scoring and team unity have become trademarks of this team.

"Teamwork has really defined our team on both ends of the court," he said. "Defensively, we cover up for each other, we talk a lot and we think.

"Offensively, we're really good at passing the ball, although we still have some things we could do better."

Tabor made 26 of 57 field goal attempts (46 percent) while Sterling made 20 of 61 (33 percent), included three of 15 from the 3-point line.

Tabor forced 17 Sterling turnovers leading to 16 points.

"The few times they tried to go to their press, I felt like we really showed some poise," Allen said. "We made really good decisions."

With their 18th straight win, Tabor improved to 23-4 overall and 16-1 in conference play while Sterling's eight-game winning streak ended as the Warriors fell to 22-5 and 14-3.

"Our program centers around two main things," Allen said. "First, we create an environment for all our players and coaches to grow spiritually in their relationship with God. Second, we want to contend for the KCAC championship and qualify for the national tournament.

"When I came here three or four years ago, that seemed like a ridiculous thing to think about, but we had a lot of people who believed in what we were trying to do.

"It's a good feeling to accomplish that goal."

Coming-The Bluejays will be at home throughout the KCAC post-season tournament. On Thursday Tabor will host the Bethany Swedes, 80-53 winners over Kansas Wesleyan on Monday night. Game time is 7 p.m.