PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- The University of Pikeville women's basketball team outscored Ohio Christian 45-22 in the second half to overcome a halftime deficit and beat the Trailblazers 77-57 on Thursday in the East Ky. Expo Center.
Behind the play of Shekinah Alexander, who finished with a game-high 20 points, Ohio Christian led 35-32 at the break while shooting over 46 percent from the field. It was only the fifth time in 22 games that the Bears had trailed at halftime this season.
The entire narrative of the game flipped in the final 20 minutes as UPIKE turned up the heat with intense full-court pressure. OCU's field-goal percentage dropped to 21.2 percent as the Bears' shot up to 42 percent. The Trailblazers (8-10) also gave up 17 second-half turnovers with just three assists.
After taking a one-point lead at 38-37 on two Kandice Porter free throws with 16 minutes to play, the Bears (17-5) went on a 17-2 run to go up by 16 and never looked back. The lead grew as large as 23 points after two freebies from Jamie Castle in the final 50 seconds.
Khalilah Quigley paced UPIKE with 18 points, while Porter and Aundrea Matchen joined her in double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Courtney Haney pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and Kayla Day was the assists leader with seven dimes.
The Bears controlled the glass 52-43 and outscored OCU's bench 32-13 to help prove the difference, while also leading the game in steals 18-13. UPIKE ended up shooting 40.6 percent from the field and OCU shot at 33.3 percent for the game.
UPIKE is back in action at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday with the return to Mid-South Conference play at Cumberland in Lebanon, Tenn.
