LEBANON, Tenn. -- After trailing for most of the game, the 23rd-ranked University of Pikeville women's basketball team overcame an 11-point, third-quarter deficit to tally a 64-61 win at No. 15 Cumberland on Saturday in Mid-South Conference play.

The Phoenix (13-4, 2-3 MSC) were up 44-33 with 15 minutes to play before the Bears made 13 of 21 shots and outscored them 31-15 to come back for the win. Cumberland shot just 7 of 26 from the field during that span.

Elisabeth Latham paced UPIKE (13-6, 3-3 MSC) with 10 points while also pulling down six rebounds and blocking two shots. Kelah Eldridge added nine points and Emily Baker tallied four points and 10 boards. Julia Fox pace Cumberland with 17 points, including hitting five threes.

The Phoenix went from near 40 percent shooting in the first half to ending the game at just a 32.8 clip. The Bears ended up outshooting them with a 37 percent showing after struggling at first.

HOW IT WENT DOWN  

The first quarter was anything but beautiful basketball as the Bears shot just 21 percent from the field (4-21) and the Phoenix didn't fare much better at 33 percent. Cumberland scored the first five points of the game and ended up leading by as many as 10 points in the frame at 18-8.

Offensively things got better for UPIKE in the second quarter, it just took a while for it to happen. Three times the Phoenix extended their lead to 11 points, including with 1:28 on the clock at 32-21. Then some positive momentum happened for the Bears as they closed the half on a 5-0 run.

Baker started it with a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound before Latham made it 32-26 at the break with a put back just before time expired.

UPIKE ended up shooting 27 percent in the half, compared to 37 for the Phoenix, but Cumberland made an extra 3-pointer and three more free throws to keep the lead.

It took the Phoenix just five minutes in the third quarter to get their lead back to 11 at 44-33 on a three by Fox and after the Bears had cut it to five with four straight points, Fox was there again from deep to make it an eight-point game at the 1:30 mark.

But the final minute of the quarter may have turned the tide for the Bears as they went on a 7-2 run, including a layup and three from Eldridge. The spurt got UPIKE within three points at 49-46, the closest it had been since trailing 4-0 to start the game.

Right on cue, Brianna Burbridge kept the run alive to start the fourth quarter with a corner three to tie the score for the first time. A minute later, the Bears had their first lead at 51-49 on a pair of Mia Greatrex free throws. In the final eight minutes, the score was tied four times and the lead changed hands twice.

Cumberland's latest lead was 55-53 with 6:53 to play on a Nicole Bowers layup, but a few minutes later the Bears had reached their largest lead of three points on a three from Taylor McGlade and shortly after got a deep jumper from Burbridge to lead by five with 1:59 to go.

Taliah Moore cut the lead to three with a put-back jumper, but it was the final points scored in the game. Cumberland got off just one shot over the final 1:30 as the team's traded turnovers.

UP NEXT

UPIKE hosts its lone home contest of the month at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday against Warren Wilson (N.C.) in the East Ky. Expo Center.

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