PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- Khalilah Quigley matched her season high with 26 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to overcome a big first-half lead built by No. 21 Lindsey Wilson which won 75-70 on Thursday in the East Ky. Expo Center.
UPIKE, which never led, found itself down by double digits just five minutes into the action at 14-4. Lindsey Wilson added five more points over the next two minutes to go up 19-4 on a Bre Elder free throw. After going down by as many as 19 points in the half, the Bears were facing a 14-point deficit at halftime.
As bad as things got for UPIKE, it never gave up. Instead coming out for a furious second-half rally that saw it outscore Lindsey Wilson (15-4, 3-2 MSC) 20-6 to tie the score at 47 on a jumper by Jamie Castle. But the Blue Raiders responded with a 13-4 run to go back up by nine with 8:52 on the clock.
In one last effort to steal a win, the Bears (14-5, 2-4 MSC) went on an 11-3 run of their own to trail by just one at 63-62 on a layup by Rachel Lee. Chanel Robert answered with a tough jumper in the paint and Michelle Montgomery turned a UPIKE turnover into a 3-point play to quickly build a six-point lead.
Three points was as close as the Bears would come to LWC the rest of the way when Quigley made it 71-68 with a hard drive to the basket. UPIKE would score just two more points the rest of the way as the Blue Raiders sealed the win with another jumper from Roberts and a pair of free throws.
Kelah Eldridge joined Quigley in double figures with 18 points, including matching her season high of four 3-pointers. Andrea Matchen added six points and four rebounds.
Lindsey Wilson got 14 points from both Roberts and Kayla Richardson, while Alexus Chinn tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Blue Raiders led the game on the glass 46-41 and outscored the Bears 48-34 in the paint. It wasn't a pretty game as UPIKE finished with 14 assists and 17 turnovers and Lindsey Wilson ended up with nine assists 18 giveaways.
Shooting woes didn't help the Bears as they hit at 37.9 percent from the field, compared to 44.6 by the Blue Raiders.
UPIKE returns to action at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday against No. 22 Cumberland (Tenn.).
