LEBANON, Tenn. -- Kandice Porter put the team on her back, tallying a career-high 24 points and 11 rebounds to help the University of Pikeville past Cumberland 76-61 on Thursday at the Dallas Floyd Recreation Center.
It was a big win for UPIKE as it improves to 18-5 overall and an even 4-4 in Mid-South Conference play. It also drops Cumberland (11-9) to 4-4 in league play as well. With the series sweep, it puts the Bears alone in fifth place in the league standings.
More momentum can be gained on Saturday as a trip to 19th-ranked Lindsey Wilson at 3 p.m. ET looms in Columbia, Ky.
Three others joined Porter in double figures for the Bears led by Khalilah Quigley with 13 points and five rebounds, Aundrea Matchen with 12 points and Kelah Eldridge adding 11.
The Bulldogs got a team-leading 14 points from both Chelsey Hall and Jazmine Smith.
UPIKE never trailed in the first half, jumping out to a nine-point lead at the ten-minute mark when Dinyell Calvert grabbed a miss and stuck it right back in for a 16-7 advantage. The Buldogs bounced back with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to a single point before UPIKE outscored them 14-4 over the next six minutes to go back up by nine.
The rest of the half was a back-and-forth offensive affair highlighted by Matchen hitting her third straight field goal to extend the lead to 13 points. Unfortunately for UPIKE, Jalita Fason was good down the stretch as well, scoring four straight points in the final two minutes to make it 38-27 at halftime.
Courtney Haney helped the Bears stay hot early in the second half as she hit her third straight shot in the paint to put UPIKE up 15, its largest lead yet. Porter added an and-one play on the next possession and suddenly the Bears were enjoying an 18-point lead with 17 minutes to play.
The next six minutes, however, belonged to the Bulldogs who outscored the Bears 11-4 during that span as UPIKE couldn't hold onto the basketball. When Smith got loose for a layup with 11:59 on the clock it was just an 11-point game.
Two minutes later Terra Pryor buried Cumberland's second three of the game to make the score 55-45.
Cumberland wasn't able to get the game into single digits though as UPIKE outscored it 10-6 over the next six minutes to keep the lead at 14 points after a pair of Quigley free throws.
Two minutes later it was a different story as the Bulldogs used two free throws from Fason, a three from Hall and put back by Tamera Giles to go on a quick 7-0 run and get within seven at 65-58 with 4:45 on the clock. UPIKE needed something to stop the bleeding and Quigley answered with a 3-point play on the other end.
This time around UPIKE kept its lead at no less than 10 points and continued its strong shooting from the free-throw line to finish out the win. Led by Quigley's 9-for-10 showing, the Bears went 19 for 22 as a team from the line, compared to 10 of 16 by Cumberland.
Rebounds went in favor of UPIKE 41-28 as well as field-goal shooting, 50.9 to 40 percent. The regular-season sweep of Cumberland also gives head coach Joanna McNamee her 50th career win in three seasons, including two with the Bears.
