GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- A 69-59 win at Georgetown made this one of the most successful regular-seasons in school history for the University of Pikeville, but it also adds to the intrigue of what this group can accomplish as it heads toward March.
With the win on the road Monday, Pikeville finished off its second winning season in Mid-South Conference play since joining the league in 2001 and the 23 total wins are the second most in program history. Pikeville last posted a conference record above .500 in 2002-03 when it went 6-4.
Khalilah Quiley played a big role in knocking off Georgetown for the second time this season with a game-high 21 points.
Jamie Castle tallied 13 points and Aundrea Matchen added 11 off the bench while Kandice Porter and Kelah Eldridge both pitched in with 10. Quigley wrapped up the contest with a double-double after adding 11 rebounds.
Jessica Foster and DeVanny King paced Georgetown with 18 and 10 points, respectively.
The shooting was abysmal on both sides with the Tigers doing slightly better at 34.8 to 33.3 percent. Free throws ended up being the biggest advantage as the Bears made 26 of 31, compared to 9 of 14 for the Tigers.
Just five minutes into the first half UPIKE (23-7, 8-6 MSC) had a 6-1 lead in fouls, including two each for Porter and Courtney Haney. Despite the big disparity, the offensive production didn't suffer as the Bears led 12-8 after two straight 3-point plays by Quigley.
It was a 16-11 UPIKE lead after Foster drained a three for the Tigers with 12 minutes left in the half. After that, the Bears went on a 5-0 run over the next three minutes before it was ended by a long jumper from Olivia Coleman.
After a long string of success for UPIKE, Georgetown (13-10, 4-8 MSC) started a rally of its own, outscoring the Bears 8-3 over the next three minutes to get back within five at 24-19.
When Quigley went to the line for two makes with 5:00 on the clock she extended the Bears' lead to seven at 28-21. Then things went south for Pikeville as it failed to score for nearly four minutes, allowing the Tigers to tie things up with a 7-0 run.
Still tied at 31, Matchen tallied the final bucket of the half with an offensive board and put back to give UPIKE a 33-31 lead at the break.
The shooting didn't improve early in the second half as the score stayed tied at 38-38 for four minutes until Emilie Ziese made a layup for the Tigers with 13:45 on the clock.
It wasn't until Foster got loose for a fast-break layup that either team had more than a two-point lead for nearly nine minutes as it put the Tigers up 46-43. The lead didn't last long though as Quigley added a free throw and drive to the cup to tie things back up.
A game-changing 6-0 run followed for the Bears as Porter hit the first 3-pointer of her career (she entered the game 0 for 11) and Castle completed a 3-point play to go ahead 52-46 with less than eight minutes left. The lead reached eight points when Eldridge forced a turnover and found Matchen for the easy lay in.
Things got better from there for UPIKE as it scored 14 of the next 23 points to take its biggest lead yet at 66-55 with 56.6 seconds remaining. There was no let down this time as the Bears held on for the regular-season sweep of the Tigers.
Up next for UPIKE is the Mid-South Conference Tournament in Frankfort on March 5-8.
