WILBERFORCE, Ohio -- A smothering defensive effort that led to Wilberforce shooting just 30.7 percent from the field helped the University of Pikeville women's basketball team tally a 98-63 win on Saturday afternoon at the Ben Waterman Classic hosted by Central State.
The Bears shot 46.2 percent and made nine of a season-high 24 3-point attempts as the Bulldogs made just four threes and turned the ball over 20 times with only 11 assists. Wilberforce did grab a season-best 23 offensive rebounds against UPIKE, but the Bears managed an overall 57-50 lead on the glass.
Khalilah Quigley paced Pikeville with 21 points, while Kelah Eldridge and Kayla Day chipped in with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Eldridge connected on four threes and Day hit two while also dishing out a game-high seven assists. Courtney Haney and Kandice Porter were the Bears' leading rebounders with nine each.
Wilberforce got 14 points from Chanel Davis and 12 from Cortland Mullins off the bench. Da'Sha'Nay Corley was the leader inside with a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds that included seven offensive boards.
Both teams struggled from the free-throw line, shooting barely over 50 percent. UPIKE hit 17-of-33 attempts and the Bulldogs made just 13 of 23. Wilberforce's numbers from the field were 23 of 75 overall and 4 of 23 from behind the arc.
The game was tied at 7-7 five minutes into the first half before the Bears spring out to a 12-point lead, outscoring the Bulldogs 20-9 over a 12-minute span. Quigley was the catalyst, scoring 13 of her points before halftime. UPIKE took a 35-29 lead into halftime.
Just over six minutes into the second half, Wilberforce had turned the tables for a four-point lead at 48-44, going on a 19-9 run out of the break. But its last lead would come at 51-50 two minutes later as the Bears turned up the heat for a 12-2 run to go back up by double digits for good.
The 11-point lead eventually grew to 30 when back-to-back threes by Day made it 88-58 with 3:15 to play. Rachel Lee and Erin Swatzel, playing for the first time since an exhibition loss at Kentucky, both added threes down the stretch to get to the final 35-point advantage.
UPIKE plays its final game of the Ben Waterman Classic at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday against host Central State.
