KOKOMO, Ind. - Down its top-two scorers and facing an 11-point deficit in the third quarter, Midway's eight-game winning streak looked primed to end at Indiana Kokomo Saturday.

But behind another swarming defensive effort and the two-way dominance of Morgan Cross,the Eagles seemingly broke the Cougars' will over the final quarter-and-a-half, outscoring them 37-17 in the final 16:36 to earn a 65-56 win in a River States Conference women's basketball game Saturday.

Despite being badly short-handed, the Eagles didn't miss a beat early on, jumping out to a 12-0 lead as IUK missed its first 12 shots.

It would be a much different story in the second quarter. Midway shot just 2-of-21 from the floor, while the Cougars were over 50 percent (8-of-15) and took a 28-22 lead into halftime. That advantage would stretch to 39-28 on a Hannah Hodgen 3-pointer 3:24 into the second half.

But as it has all season, the Midway defense turned up the pressure. And after seemingly rebounding from a rough start, the Cougars had no answer the rest of the way, as they had 15 turnovers over the last 12:38.

The Eagles, who entered the day sixth in the country with 26 takeaways per-game, had 28 more Saturday, which led to 27 points.

At the center of most all the action was Cross, who had the best game of her breakout sophomore campaign, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals.

Cross, an Indiana native, got a second-chance basket, followed up with a steal and assist on a Jermyra Christian layup to get the Eagles within 41-39, then hit two free throws off another offensive rebound to tie the score.

IUK responded with a 3-pointer, but following two Paige Medley free throws, the Eagles took the lead for good when Cross grabbed another of her five offensive rebounds and kicked out the Medley, who drilled a 3-pointer to make it 46-44 Eagles with 20 second left in the third period.

Christian narrowly missed a double-double of her own with 12 points and nine rebounds while also having four assists. Trinity Johnson had a great defensive day as well with four steals.

Medley (10 points) and Alexis Taylor (eight) helped the Eagles finish with a 22-4 edge in bench points while Taylor also had seven rebounds.

Now 18-5 overall, 9-2 in the RSC and right in the mix for a potential at-large berth in the national tournament, the Eagles hope to be back at full strength before a massive home game against No. 8 Rio Grande on Thursday.

Before that, they have a road tilt against Kentucky Christian (6-17, 2-10) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.