PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- The phrase "tale of two halves" may be cliché in sports, but on Saturday afternoon in Portsmouth, it had to be used. The 15th-ranked University of Pikeville women's basketball team went from never trailing in the first half, to facing an 18-point deficit in the second during a 93-75 loss at No. 7 Shawnee State.
After shooting nearly 60 percent in the first 20 minutes, UPIKE dropped down to 36.4 in the second. SSU, on the other hand, stayed consistently good, hitting at 55 percent in both frames.
Each team turned the ball over 17 teams, they tied with 31 rebounds and both connected on 31 field goals. But SSU made six more 3-pointers and most importantly, made 21 free throws, compared to just nine for UPIKE.
For UPIKE, it's the first three-game losing streak since late in the 2013-14 season, while Shawnee State improves to a perfect 13-0 at home in Waller Gymnasium this season.
Aundrea Matchen paced Pikeville with 18 points, followed by Kandice Porter and Kelah Eldridge with 13 points each. Devin Conley added a couple of 3-pointers to finish with 12 points.
UPIKE (19-4, 5-4 MSC) led by nine with under two minutes left before halftime before SSU closed on a 9-1 run to change the entire game. It took 20 seconds into the second half for Shawnee State to gain its first lead at 48-47 on a layup by Ashton Lovely.
About 40 seconds later, SSU (22-3, 10-1 MSC) took the lead for good on a three by Hannah Miller at 51-49. A 10-3 spurt put it up by nine, then in the fourth quarter, SSU outscored UPIKE 27-15 to enjoy a lead as large as 18 points when Abby Feutcher made two free throws in the final seconds.
In one of the tougher places to play in the Mid-South Conference, UPIKE looked plenty comfortable shooting in the first quarter, hitting at 56 percent from the field and going 3 of 6 from behind the arc to enjoy eads as high as nine points.
UPIKE never trailed in the first half, instead continuing to lead by nine three minutes into the second quarter as Porter put together one of her best halves of the season. The junior made five of six shots and went 2 for 3 from the stripe to close the first 20 minutes with 12 points.
Not looking to get pushed around, there was no quit in SSU, which rallied behind the freshman Lovely on senior day to slowly cut into the deficit. Lovely connected on a pair of triples in the half and made two freebies in the final minute to get SSU within one at the half at 47-46.
Lovely closed the first half with a game-high 13 points, while Ali Zieverink, fighting through an aggressive 2-3 zone defense, added 11 points and five boards while not missing a shot from the field. Shooting was the story of the frame as UPIKE finished at 59.4 percent from the field and SSU hit at a 55.6 clip.
Zieverink led SSU with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Lovely chipped in with 21 points, four boards and three steals. Abby Feutcher made three 3-pointers to finish with 11 points and six assists.
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