PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- Overtime is commonly referred to as "free basketball", but Aundrea Matchen treated it more like pay-per-view, scoring 11 of the University of Pikeville's 14 points in the extra period against Cumberlands, to help the No. 22 Bears to an 84-78 win in the Mid-South Conference opener.
The action in regulation was everything you could want in a heated conference matchup with neither team leading by more than four points. But the final five minutes belonged to UPIKE, and to be more specific, Matchen. The sophomore was unstoppable taking it to the rack, going untouched for three layups.
Cumberlands looked on its way to winning near the end of the fourth quarter when Lydia Box connected on her fifth three of the game to take a 70-67 lead with 33 seconds on the clock. Luckily for UPIKE, Kelah Eldridge was up to the challenge, answering right back with a three of her own.
LaTeesha DeLoach got a chance to put the Patriots back up from the free-throw line, but missed both shots. Cheyenne Madden grabbed an offensive rebound to extend the chance, but Box's shot was off the mark as time expired.
After falling behind 71-70 on Heather Jolly's free throw to start the overtime, Matchen scored the next eight points and the Patriots never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
Matched paced the Bears with 23 points and tied Kelah Eldridge for the team lead in rebounds with eight. Eldridge added 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and Kandice Porter and Devin Conley had 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Madden led all scorers with 28 points for Cumberlands while also pulling down a game-best 10 boards. Box finished with 20 points and nine boards.
Apart from the clutch 3-pointers and superstar play from Matchen down the stretch, free-throw shooting was the biggest story of the night. Cumberlands made just 14-of-40 shots from the stripe, compared to 17 of 25 by the Bears.
Other than that, Cumberlands shot better from the field at 46.7 to 41.7 percent and led the battle of the boards 48-40. Turnovers hurt those advantages though as the Patriots coughed up 25 as UPIKE swiped 15 steals, led by Conley with six.
UPIKE continues as the only undefeated team in the MSC with an 8-0 mark, while Cumberlands drops to 6-2 and 0-1 in league play after opening the season with six straight wins.
Up next for the Bears is a trip to Bluefield State at 3 p.m. ET in Bluefield, W. Va.
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