INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Adison Corder had the hot hand, hitting five 3s on her way to a team-high 19 points, but it wasn't enough for the University of Pikeville women's basketball team to get past Marian in a 90-82 loss on the road Tuesday.
The Knights, ranked No. 1 in the NAIA Div. II Preseason Poll and winners of the past two national championships, used 54 percent shooting from the field to overcome a 42-37 halftime deficit.
Turnovers didn't help UPIKE's cause as it had 27 on the night, the most in a game since giving up 29 to Campbellsville in January of last year.
Corder wasn't alone in double figures as Brianna Burbridge scored 14 and Jamie Castle and Rachel Lee both had 13. But even with shooting 47 percent and both teams making seven 3s, the giveaways were just too much for UPIKE (0-1) to overcome.
Marian (1-0) turned the miscues into 30 points and made three extra jumpers and two more free throws than the Bears to win despite being outrebounded 40-28.
Joana Soeiro and Sarah Corbin both scored 21 points to lead the Knights while Soerio also grabbed six boards, dished out six assists and swiped four steals.
The Knights were able to pull away late, but this was a game that saw seven ties and had 15 lead changes.
After scoring the first six points of the fourth quarter, UPIKE led by as many as five points at 68-63 on a layup by Lee. The tide turned though just past the five-minute mark when a 9-1 Marian run gave it a 3-point lead with 4:53 to play.
The Bears briefly got the deficit to one on a pair of Corder free throws, but an 11-1 Marian run followed to put it up by 11 with less than two minutes to go. The Knights went 4-for-5 from the field and made both of their free throws during the run. UPIKE never got closer than eight the rest of the way on Jamie Castle's layup in the final seconds.
Neither team led by more than five points in the first half but UPIKE was up by as many as seven late in the third quarter. Marian ended up outscoring the Bears 10-2 in the final two minutes of the frame, setting up the game-winning finish to the final quarter.
With a 5-point lead and 8:54 to play, UPIKE went on to miss its next six shots, not making another field goal until Burbridge's layup with 25 seconds on the clock.
UP NEXT
UPIKE will play its home opener at 2 p.m. ET on Friday against Bluefield (Va.) as part of the Appalachian Wireless Classic in the East Ky. Expo Center.
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