PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- Thanks to three strong individual performances, UPIKE women's basketball was able to shake off a rusty first quarter and come back to defeat Wilberforce in commanding fashion on Wednesday, 67-50.

The Bears were led by double-doubles from Emily Baker and Mia Greatrex, and Mary Englert who scored a game-high 20 points. Baker scored 16 points on the day with 10 rebounds, while Greatrex had 10 points with 10 rebounds – seven of which were offensive.

After not playing in eight days, it took the Bears a quarter to find its rhythm early on. Wilberforce was able to frequently get the ball into the post for easy buckets and only took one three-pointer all quarter. Overall, the Bulldogs shot 72.7 percent (8-11) from the floor and led 17-13 after the first ten minutes.

The second quarter, however, was the Englert and Baker show. Englert got the Bears started and right back in the lead with a 10-3 run by herself in just three and a half minutes. That run continued even longer with buckets from Hailey Free, Kayla Mullins, and Theodora Odia to give the Bears a nine-point lead.

The latter part of the second quarter was Baker's time to shine with back-to-back and-ones to give Pikeville a double-digit lead going into the halftime break. Baker put together about as well-rounded of a game as UPIKE has seen this season with her double-double on 50 percent shooting, but was also defensively stout with four steals and two blocks.

UPIKE turned the second half into a defensive showcase with three blocks and five steals across the final two quarters. Even further, the Bears held Wilberforce to just 30 percent shooting in the second half while forcing nine turnovers as they coasted to victory

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Pikeville will have another long lull between games, not competing again until it participates in the Shawnee State Classic on Dec. 7 and 8 in Portsmouth, Ohio. The Bears will face the University of the Virgin Islands on the 7th and Talladega on the 8th.

-UPIKE-