ST. CATHARINE, Ky. -- No Bear played more than 20 minutes and 12 points from Kelah Eldridge led the team as the University of Pikeville women used a balanced attack to knock off St. Catharine 85-60 on Thursday in Lourdes Hall.
Khalilah Quigley and Jamie Castle both added 10 points for the Bears and Shekinah Gibson wrapped with nine points and eight boards. UPIKE hit four more 3-pointers and seven more free throws as it posted a 52-28 lead by halftime to make sure it improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Mid-South Conference.
St. Catharine (2-4, 0-2 MSC) got a game high 19 points from Sasha Ruiz-Lopez and nine points from Heather Sandlin, but shot just 34.2 percent from the field as a team.
Once the Bears stepped across half court, they were in range in the first half, hitting at 61.8 percent from the field and a staggering 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from behind the arc. Eldridge connected on both of her first-half threes, helping UPIKE turn a 28-18 game into a 20-point lead late in the frame.
Castle had one of the last buckets of the half, charging into the paint for a tough shot through two defenders to make it 52-28 which remained the score heading into halftime.
At the break, Quigley was the offensive leader in the game, already reaching double figures with 12 points, while Castle and Gibson helped the Bears turn in a 22-15 lead on the glass with four boards each. St. Catharine struggled to keep itself in the game as it failed to sink a three in nine attempts and shot just 32.5 percent overall.
It wasn't the same dominant result for the Bears in the second half as it only outscored the Patriots 33-32. St. Catharine got a pair of threes to fall and held UPIKE to just 35.3 percent shooting from the field to help even the score.
But the first-half rout the Bears executed proved too much to handle, even with the poor shooting in the final 20 minutes. UPIKE also lost its outside touch, hitting just 1-of-4 threes, but it made up for it somewhat with an 8-of-9 showing from the free-throw line.
Apart from getting outrebounded 44-34, St. Catharine didn't help itself, shooting 34 percent from the field and 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from the stripe.
UPIKE is back on the court at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, continuing its Mid-South Conference road trip at Campbellsville.
