PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- St. Catharine rallied late, but Kandice Porter was too good with 20 points and three blocks to help the University of Pikeville hold on for a 77-69 win in its home finale on Saturday in the East Ky. Expo Center.
The Bears built a 22-point lead halfway through the second half, but the Patriots weren't interested in going away, putting together a 14-3 run to cut the deficit to 11 with seven minutes to play. Then with 2:02 on the clock, UPIKE's lead was only seven, but that's as close as the Patriots would get as the Bears made shots down the stretch.
Courtney Haney played a big role in hanging on to the lead with a 6-0 run as she made back-to-back layups and knocked down two free throws to put the Bears up by 12 with 49 seconds left.
Joining Porter in double figures scoring was Khalilah Quigley with 13, Kelah Eldridge with 12, including two threes, and Jamie Castle adding 10 points and five assists off the bench.
For Quigley and Haney, the win was extra special as they were honored during a senior-day ceremony prior to tip-off. Christin Haney joined them in the ceremony as she is spending her senior year as a student assistant coach after a three-year playing career with the Bears.
Miranda Wilson led all scorers with 21 points for St. Catharine (10-17, 1-10 MSC), while Heather Sandlin added 17 points and five assists.
UPIKE (22-6, 7-5 MSC) outshot the Patriots by a slim 46.8 to 43.3 percent margin, but struggled from deep, hitting just two of its 13 attempts. The Bears did hit more free throws at 17-12 and only had 12 turnovers compared to 19 by St. Catharine.
The Patriots led for the majority of the first five minutes, going up 10-5 after a three from Wilson. UPIKE's answer was a 7-0 run, and after a Patriot bucket tied it at 12-12, Castle connected on a basket in the paint to give the Bears the lead for good.
Dinyell Calvert game UPIKE its largest lead of 22 points with a jumper to make it 55-33 with 10:21 left in the game.
Up next for UPIKE is a trip to Georgetown at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday.
