PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- Kelah Eldridge and Kandice Porter tallied a win on their senior day and their junior teammate Aundrea Matchen reached 1,000 career points as the 22nd-ranked University of Pikeville women's basketball team cruised past Cumberlands 70-53 on Saturday.
UPIKE (20-9, 8-6 MSC) reached 20 wins in a season for just the seventh time in program history, while the Patriots end the regular-season with a 14-14 overall mark and 4-10 record in Mid-South Conference play.
Eldridge and Porter, who had already become the 21st and 22nd 1,000-point scorers at Pikeville earlier in the season, tallied six and four points, respectively. The high-point mark went to Taylor McGlade with 15 and Matchen finished with 10.
Cheyenne Madden and Essence Grey led Cumberlands with 12 points each as it was held to just 40.4 percent shooting, compared to a 50.9-percent mark by the Bears.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
The second-quarter was where the game was won as UPIKE outscored Cumberlands 21-11 behind 56.3 percent shooting. The Patriots shot just over 27 percent in that frame and turned the ball over seven times compared to only two giveaways by the Bears.
Other than that lopsided quarter, the rest of the game was fairly even with UPIKE winning the opening frame 12-9, followed by an even 16-16 third quarter and finally a little but more of an edge in the fourth at 21-17.
After taking the lead at 7-5 on a Devin Conley jumper early in the first quarter, UPIKE never trailed again. Its lead reached double figures at 29-17 with 2:28 left until halftime and never returned to single digits again.
The gap grew as large as 17 point twice in the second half, first at 47-30 on a McGlade 3 with 2:03 left in the third, then again on another McGlade 3 to get to the final 70-53 score.
It was once just a 20-17 game halfway through the second quarter before UPIKE rattled off 13 straight points over the next four minutes. A steal and layup by Brianna Burbridge tallied the last points of the run, putting the Bears ahead 33-17 with 30 seconds left in the half.
Ten points was as close as Cumberlands got the rest of the way after scoring the first five points of the fourth quarter.
UP NEXT
UPIKE moves to the postseason where it will be the No. 4-seed in the MSC Tournament and will play at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday at the Frankfort Convention Center. The bracket is scheduled to be released Saturday night.
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