Sterling bounced back with a big win on Thursday night.

Nine days after a frustrating loss to Rock Island to open the conference slate, the Golden Warriors beat previously undefeated Galesburg 47-42 in Western Big 6 Conference action at Musgrove Fieldhouse.

It took a complete team effort from Sterling (3-2, 1-1 Big 6) to hand the Silver Streaks (6-1, 1-1) their first loss of the season.

Nia Harris scored 12 of her game-high 16 points in the first half as Sterling built a 32-17 halftime lead. Galesburg answered with an 18-6 run in the third quarter to make things tight down the stretch, but Sterling held on.

“We battled with Rocky last week, and I think our main thing was protecting our home floor,” said Harris, who also grabbed 11 rebounds. “We took a tough loss early, and we just wanted to prove ourselves again.”

Sterling responded after a loss to the Rocks in which the Warriors were whistled for 27 fouls to Rocky’s seven.

They were also more balanced offensively as Alivia Gibson had 12 points. Leading scorer Jossy James had nine points and four assists, helping close the game out with the ball in her hands.

Harris said moving the ball around more helped contribute to the balance.

“I feel like that’s when our options start to become more open,” she said “and not just depending on Jossy to take all the points for us.”

Leading just 38-35 heading into the fourth quarter after Galesburg’s run, things were tight until the end with both teams missing shots.

Brenley Johnson’s 3-pointer gave Sterling some breathing room and a 43-38 lead with 4:48 to play. Galesburg trailed just 45-42 but missed its last three shots and had a turnover. Harris made two free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.

“Knowing that they were undefeated, and this is a conference game, we just didn’t want to lose another conference game like we did against Rocky,” Gibson said.

Galesburg was 17 of 48 (35%) shooting from the field and 2 of 15 from deep. Sterling shot 19 of 51 (37%) and 7 of 22 (32%) from deep. Galesburg had nine fouls and Sterling had 15.

Jossy James dealt with foul trouble and had four late, even taking a charge down the stretch.

Sterling coach Taylor Jackson said the team’s effort was better than it’s been all season. Sterling beat Morris and lost to Alton over the weekend.

“I think that our kids fought harder than they have,” Jackson said. “Those were questions that we didn’t know we would see consistently from this group. But I just thought they did exactly what we wanted, and executed the game plan and things went our way today.”

Zaniyah Carter led Galesburg with nine points, Ella Herchenroder scored eight and Jozalyn Kilgore had seven.

“Galesburg’s a great team,” Jackson said. “We knew they’d come fighting back and I was just really proud of our kids, because I think compared to Rock Island they handled that run and were able to sustain down the stretch.”

Harris’ strong start and big night were also key.

“She’ll do a little bit of everything for us,” Jackson said. “She’s bringing the ball up, she’s trying to guard a post player. She just is really resilient and is just such a hard worker. I think she just had a phenomenal game and really lifted our team when we needed it.”

Gibson scored four of her 12 points in the fourth quarter.

“I think we have a couple players that can score on any given night,” Jackson said. “We just need it to be one or two of their turns, and I think tonight it was Olivia and Nia. I thought that their spark offensively carried us through.”

While Jossy James didn’t need to be the leading scorer on this night, her experience and ball-handling still shined.

“She’s becoming a leader for us and the leader that we need her to be,” Jackson said. “We want the ball in her hands as much as we can get it.”

James did not even score in the fourth quarter as the Warriors held off a good Galesburg team.

“I just am so proud of this group,” Jackson said. “I think it took a whole team effort to be able to win this one.”