MONTGOMERY, W. Va. -- The 17th-ranked University of Pikeville women's basketball team went on the road for the first time this season and took a 77-70 loss at West Virginia Tech after the Golden Bears outscored it 23-13 in the fourth quarter on Wednesday.
UPIKE (2-1) had led by 10 points with five minutes left in the third quarter after a three from Devin Conley, but West Virginia Tech went on a 9-2 run to end the quarter and trail by just three. After scoring eight of the first 10 points in the final quarter, the Golden Bears grabbed their first lead of the game at 60-59 on a Brett Justice layup.
The Bears never led again, instead they could only tie the score at 70 on a Kelah Eldridge triple with less than two minutes to play. Eldridge's long-range bucket would be UPIKE's last points of the game as it went 0-for-4 from the field to end the game.
UPIKE was led by Mia Greatrex with 16 points and Aundrea Matchen and Adison Corder chipped in with 12 points each. Though they were outrebounded 46-45, Kandice Porter led the Bears on the glass with nine rebounds.
Savannah Shamblin led all scorers with 19 points for Tech (3-3) and Alexandra Combs netted 18 points off the bench, The Golden Bears shot 43.8 percent from the field while holding UPIKE to a 37.8 mark.
Corder was a bright spot for UPIKE in the first half - matching a career high with three 3-pointers - as the Golden Bears had their way inside, outscoring UPIKE 24-18 in the paint to keep things close throughout the half. The Bears led by nine points in the first quarter, but allowed Tech to shave it down to three points late.
The second quarter was a lot of the same as a 15-5 UPIKE run gave it a 10-point lead with 2:02 on the clock, but Tech was there again for an 8-1 run of its own to close the half down by just three at 40-37.
West Virginia Tech never could grab a lead in the first 20 minutes, but tied the game twice at 2-2 and 24-24. On both occasions, UPIKE was able to put together stretches of eight and seven unanswered points, respectively.
UP NEXT
The Bears host Bluefield (Va.) at 6 p.m. ET on Friday in the Walters Auto Classic.
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