Box Score

LEBANON, Tenn. – Behind 26 points from Callisha Johnson, sixth-seeded University of Pikeville turned in the first upset of the Mid-South Conference Women's Basketball Championship, topping No. 3-seed Cumberlands (Ky.) 87-77 on Friday night at Dallas Floyd Gymnasium.

With the win, the Bears (14-17) advance to Saturday's semifinals against No. 2-seed Georgetown (Ky.) at 9 p.m. ET. This is the third trip to the semis in program history.

Johnson wasn't alone leading UPIKE as her freshman teammates Kandice Porter and Cheyenne Madden added 18 and 17 points, respectively. The two newcomers both went 8-for-10 from the field, which was important with the Bears hitting just one three in 13 attempts.

Jackie Alexander paced Cumberlands (19-10) with 23 points, while Julie Haye chipped in with 14 and Brooke Forsythe and Jill Herman both added 11.

Energy on defense was key for UPIKE as it held the Patriots to just 35.9 percent shooting from the field and 21.7 percent from behind the arc. Rebounds were nearly a wash with the Bears leading 41-40. The game was won down low where Pikeville outscored Cumberlands 44-24 in the paint.

Johnson had her way driving to the basket to start the game, scoring six points at the rim before five minutes had left the clock. That game plan stayed the same for the first 10 minutes, with UPIKE getting numerous backdoor baskets, but the Patriots made a pair of threes to lead 19-16.

After nearly 12 minutes, UPIKE got into the long-range act as well with Conley knocking down a three to cut the deficit to one. The Patriots could only manage two free throws over the next three minutes, allowing a layup from Johnson to put the Bears up 21-20. It was their first lead since going up 2-1 to start the game.

The Patriots went ahead by three twice, on a jumper by Alexander and a bank shot by Forsythe, but both times Pikeville had an answer to keep it a one-point game at 28-27 with 2:16 on the clock.

With halftime just around the corner, Porter went to work. The freshman finished a lob to put the Bears up by one, then tallied a 3-point play on a foul-line jumper to give UPIKE a 32-28 lead, its largest of the half.

Keeping up with the back-and-forth narrative, Alexander closed the first half with a layup near the buzzer and the teams took a 32-32 tie into halftime.

It took nine minutes into the second half for either team to gain a lead of more than two points. Two free throws from Quigley put Pikeville up 46-43, but on the very next trip Lynnae Lampkins buried a long three to tie the score for the sixth time in the half.

Breathing room finally came Pikeville's way as it outscored the Patriots 12-2 over a five-minute span to build a 58-48 lead and force a Cumberlands timeout. UPIKE stayed the aggressor, using two points from Eldridge at the stripe and a Johnson fast-break layup after a turnover to take a 12-point lead with 5:17 on the clock.

Cumberlands had no luck coming back until getting within 10 on a pair of Alexander free throws inside the final four minutes. As hard as the Patriots were playing to get back in it, Pikeville kept playing that much harder, going up by a game-high 14 points on a layup from Madden with less than two minutes to play.

Following a Pikeville turnover with one minute on the clock, the Patriots were able to cut the deficit to nine points twice, but it never got any closer as the Bears converted at the stripe and the last few 3-point attempts came up empty for Cumberlands.