WINONA LAKE, Ind. -- Don't tell a pair of guards they can't heave a heavyweight battle as 5-7 Kelah Eldridge of the 17th-ranked University of Pikeville women's basketball team and 5-1 Brooke Sugg of Grace had a pair of giant performances in Grace's 104-102 double-overtime win on Saturday.
Eldridge poured in a career-high 28 points with the help of six 3-pointers, but Sugg made a couple more plays, finishing with 32 points on 6-of-13 shooting from behind the arc. It was the first double-overtime game for UPIKE since losing at Campbellsville 85-82 in 2007.
Apart from the standout individual showings, it was about as evenly played game as you'll see. Grace shot 45 percent from the field and UPIKE (6-2) hit at 44, the Lancers (5-4) led in rebounds 42-40 and both teams made 11 threes. Turnovers were 16-15, you get the picture.
However, it was a game were free-throw shooting came into play as the overtimes added up. Grace went 29-of-41 from the stripe and UPIKE made 23-of-28. Those numbers include five straight makes by the Lancers in the final 30 seconds to help fend off two late 3-pointers from Eldridge and Ivvy Gulley.
UPIKE led by as many as eight points in the first quarter, but Grace eventually caught up, using a 10-2 run to take a 31-30 lead before heading into halftime tied 39-39.
After numerous ties throughout the second half, UPIKE eventually took over the lead with 6:31 to play and kept it up until the 26-second mark when Darian Patton went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line to send the game to overtime. Grace had a six-point lead with two minutes left in the first extra period until Taylor McGlade and Eldridge hit back-to-back threes to force an extra five minutes.
Grace never trailed in the final overtime, scoring eight of the first 12 points on its way to a seven-point lead with 40 seconds to play. Eldridge made two more threes but it wasn't enough as the Lancers made 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute.
UPIKE's Rachel Lee and Brianna Burbridge added 15 and 13 points, respectively, off the bench and Aundrea Matchen tallied 13. Elisabeth Latham led the Bears on the glass with 12 rebounds.
UP NEXT
UPIKE is back on the court at 2 p.m. ET next Saturday, hosting Shawnee State (Ohio) in the Mid-South Conference opener in the East Ky. Expo Center.
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