PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- Jamie Castle finished one point shy of her career high with 36 points to lead the University of Pikeville women's basketball team to its third straight win, an 86-77 decision over Life on Saturday afternoon.

The Bears (11-11, 3-4 MSC) trailed for most of the first 15 minutes, but after Rachel Lee buried a 3 to make it 29-27 late in the second quarter, UPIKE never trailed again.

At halftime UPIKE was ahead by nine at 42-33 before going on to lead by as many as 15 points in the third quarter. The Running Eagles (7-11, 0-6) made things interesting in the final three minutes when a 6-0 run made it a 3-point game with 1:28 to play.

In the end, it was free throws that preserved the win for the Bears who ended up making 11 of 12 shots from the stripe. Castle was the leader there as well, connecting on 9 of 10 in the final 46 seconds.

Lee finished with 17 points and mad e a team-high four 3s, while Aundrea Matchen joined them in double figures with 12 points after shooting 5 of 7 from the field. Emily Baker had an all -around great outing with seven points, nine rebounds, four blocks and three steals.

Kennesha Nichols paced Life with 25 points and made five 3-pointers of her own.

UPIKE blistered the nets, shooting 55 percent from the field and 51 percent from behind the arc. Life wasn't so lucky, hitting at just 45 percent overall, although nine 3-pointers helped its cause.  

UP NEXT

UPIKE returns to the court on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET in Portsmouth, Ohio against Shawnee State in Mid-South Conference play.

-UPIKE-