PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- Jamie Castle and Aundrea Matchen scored 11 points each, but a poor shooting night for the University of Pikeville women's basketball team led to an 80-53 loss at No. 2 Shawnee State (Ohio) on Thursday night.

Pikeville made just 18 of 55 shots (32.7 percent) for the game compared to a near 50 percent showing by SSU. Getting easy looks near the basket was huge for the home team as it registered assists on 20 of its 31 made field goals.

The teams tied on the backboards and hit nearly the same amount of 3s and free throws, but Shawnee's consistent offense and ability to take care of the ball made the difference. It only had two turnovers at halftime and didn't add another until two minutes into the fourth quarter.

Three SSU players - Hanah Miller, Madison Ridout and Bailey Cummins - finished with a game high 15 points, while Cummins also added 12 assists for the double-double.

UPIKE (11-12, 3-5 MSC) made its first two shots to take a 4-2 lead a minute in, but an 8-0 SSU run followed. The Bears burned an early timeout to calm the storm and it quickly paid off. Starting with a jumper and 3-pointer from Matchen on two straight possessions, the Bears regained the lead at 11-10 midway through the first quarter.

But after fighting all the way back, the game started to get away from UPIKE again as it watched Shawnee (21-3, 8-0 MSC) rattle off 11 unanswered points over the last four minutes of the quarter to take a 21-11 lead.

Twice UPIKE was able to trim the deficit to six points in the second quarter, at 24-18 and 28-22, but after the latter, SSU tallied back-to-back and-1's to take its largest lead yet of 12 points with 2:55 on the clock.

It ended up being an 11-0 run for SSU that didn't end until a single free throw by Rachel Lee in the final two minutes. At the break, Shawnee State led 41-25 as it outshot UPIKE 50-26 percent from the field and forced nine turnovers with just two of its own.

A jumper by Mullins with 5:56 left in the third got UPIKE within 14 points, but that's as close as it would get the rest of the game. Ashton Lovely and Miller countered with back-to-back triples, starting SSU on a path to leading by as many as 23 points in the frame.

SSU's lead grew to 28 points early in the fourth before going on to hold on for the 27-point win by outscoring UPIKE 16-10 in the quarter.

UP NEXT

UPIKE hosts Kentucky Christian at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday in the East Ky. Expo Center.   

-UPIKE-