Box Score

PIKEVILLE, Ky. – The University of Pikeville women's basketball team went scoreless over the final seven minutes to lose at Bluefield (Va.) 73-61 on Thursday night at The Dome Gymnasium.

The Bears (6-8, 1-2 MSC) led 57-54 with 12:53 to play, but scored just four more points, allowing the Rams to use a 19-4 run to claim the win.

Callisha Johnson scored a team-best 22 points for UPIKE, while Kandice Porter reached double figures as well with 14. Porter was the Bears' leader on the glass with nine rebounds.

Teqa McNeal matched Johnson for the game-high with 22 points and Asia Wheeler chipped in with 18 for the Rams (6-5, 1-2 MSC). Wheeler also pulled down 11 boards. Rebounding was critical in the game as Bluefield collected 56 boards to UPIKE's 32, despite the Bears outshooting the Rams 41 to 36 percent.

Johnson, who went 8-of-13 from the field and 3-of-5 from three, scored the team's last field goal with 6:53 on the clock.

Bluefield opened up with a 1-2-1-1 press to speed up the Bears as Johnson had to do things on her own early with the first five UPIKE points. The Rams built a 13-7 lead in the first six minutes, but Johnson stayed hot with back-to-back threes to tie it up.

The Bears went on top for the first time since 3-0 on a layup from Madden to make it 19-17. Tonge set the easy basket up with a drive into the paint to draw a double team. It was part of a 5-0 run that included four straight free throws from Johnson and Tonge.

Another 5-0 UPIKE run starting at the 8:23 mark made it 26-20 as Courtney Haney finished a scoop shot in the paint and knocked down two free throws to extend the lead. Three pointers from Jade McDaniel and Tempestt Lewis proved to be the answer for the Rams as they took a 30-27 lead with 4:13 on the clock.

Down 35-33, UPIKE scored six unanswered points with the help of back-to-back baskets by Porter and Tonge to build a 39-35 lead. McNeal helped the Rams fight back with a three in the final seconds to make it a 39-38 Bear lead at the half.

Porter was in the zone to start the second half, scoring six straight to help UPIKE to its largest lead yet at 47-40 forcing Bluefield to burn a timeout with 17 minutes to play. Keeping up with the narrative of the game, the Rams stormed back, using five straight points from Whitney Smith to regain the lead at 59-57.

Up to that point there had been four ties and nine lead changes in the closely contested league battle.

Wheeler's layup with 9:54 to go gave the Rams their largest lead of the second half at 61-57. Kayla Day and Johnson led the comeback effort this time, finishing a pair of layups to cut the deficit to two.

It would be Bluefield that took control in the final five minutes, scoring six straight points during a three and a half minute span to take a 69-61 lead with 2:36 left. McNeal was responsible for six of the points, going the distance for layups after UPIKE turnovers.

The Bears just couldn't find the basket in the final stages of the game, going without a point for nearly seven minutes as Bluefield captured the 73-61 win.

UPIKE returns to action at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday against Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) at the East Ky. Expo Center.