With their season dangling by a thread Thursday night, Coe women's basketball coach Randi Peterson wanted Mackenzie Reed to take the final shot of the game.

The 5-foot-10 senior from Iowa City West delivered.

Reed drove to the basket and banked in a shot with 5.2 seconds left to give the Kohawks a dramatic 65-64 victory over Buena Vista in the semifinals of the Iowa Conference tournament at Eby Fieldhouse.

Coe (16-10) will face Loras (18-8) in the tournament finals Saturday afternoon at Loras.

The Kohawks had the ball and trailed, 64-63, when Peterson called a timeout with 32.1 seconds left in the game. She called another timeout with 15.2 seconds remaining and told her club to get the ball to Reed for the game-winning shot.

Reed wanted the ball in that situation.

"It makes me excited," she said. "This is what I've prepared for all four years, all through high school, up through now. You want to be the person with the ball in your hands at that time. That's all I wanted."

The play did not go according to plan, however.

"I drew a play for her driving, but it wasn't that particular play, so she created that on her own," said Peterson. "It's just a testament to how badly she wanted the game.

"In the tournament, kids just have to make plays. And Mackenzie made a huge play."

The play began with Allie Wirth passing the ball in-bounds to Megan Hayes. Hayes passed back to Wirth, who found Reed on the left side.

"We were just looking for a hard drive to the hoop to get a foul or put the ball in the hole," said Reed. "The play didn't quite go as planned. I knew time was running out."

Reed drove to the basket and saw another defender come over to help. She pulled up, kept her balance and banked a 5-foot shot off the backboard and into the bucket.

"Randi likes to call it my bread and butter - my knife," said Reed. "That's a shot I'm comfortable with taking, so I just let the muscle memory take place and let it go."

Buena Vista called a timeout with 5.0 seconds left. Reed deflected a long pass out of bounds and the Beavers (12-15) called another timeout with 1.9 seconds remaining. Susan Kies launched a long 3-pointer at the buzzer, but the shot hit the rim and bounced away.

Reed was a major force for the Kohawks all night. She hit 9 of 15 shots from the field, many of them on mid-range jumpers, and went 4-for-4 at the foul line for a game-best 22 points.

Coe trailed 64-61 when Reed hit a 10-footer to pull the Kohawks within a point. Wirth got a big steal on the defensive end to give her team a final chance and Reed delivered.

"It's one of the best full games Mackenzie has played in a long time," said Peterson. "It helped that she didn't get in foul trouble. She's a great player, but she gets in foul trouble. It was great for her."

It was a tight game all night and mostly an uphill battle for the Kohawks. The score was tied seven times and the lead changed hands 10 times. Coe never led by more than five points, but the Kohawks had the lead when it counted.

Hannah Breitbach popped in three 3-pointers and scored 10 points for Coe. Wirth grabbed eight rebounds and had four assists. Hayes scored eight points.

Kies led Buena Vista with 16 points.

Coe defeated Loras, 60-48, this past Saturday at Eby Fieldhouse. Now the Kohawks, seeded No.2 in the tournament, will have to beat the top seed in Dubuque for the title and an automatic berth in the NCAA regional tournament.

"It's going to be hard," said Reed. "But it's tournament time and anything can happen from now on. We just had them at Coe and won, so I'm confident in what this team is capable of doing."

Loras topped Wartburg, 64-51, in the other semifinal Thursday night.

Coe won the Iowa Conference tournament in 2011 and 2012, so the seniors on this year's club are seeking their third title in four years.

BUENA VISTA (64): Fisher 4 0-2 11, Vlotho 1 2-3 4, Wiederhoeft 6 0-0 12, Kies 6 2-2 16, Vokt 1 0-0 2, Snyder 1 0-0 2, Beckman 2 0-0 5, Moreno 0 0-0 0, Tynes 0 0-0 0, Ollendieck 0 0-0 0, Flynn-Graves 5 2-2 12. Totals 26 6-9 64.

COE (65): Breitbach 3 1-2 10, Reed 9 4-4 22, Hayes 3 2-3 8, Wirth 2 0-0 4, Hansche 2 0-0 6, Jipp 1 0-0 3, Wheelwright 1 0-0 3, Lynch 1 0-0 3, Halvorson 2 0-0 4, Buckles 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 7-9 65.

Halftime - Buena Vista 33, Coe 32. 3-point goals - Buena Vista 6 (Fisher 3, Kies 2, Beckman 1), Coe 8 (Breitbach 3, Hansche 2, Jipp 1, Wheelwright 1, Lynch 1).