Montgomery, AL – Women's basketball split the weekend slate on Saturday afternoon, falling 80-76 to (RV) Talladega to wrap up the Faulkner Thanksgiving Classic. The back-and-forth affair saw the Bears fight back from behind several times, even managing to eliminate a 12-point Tornado lead in the second half. Mary Englert was a highlight in the contest, scoring her 1,000th career point on a free throw in the second quarter.

Englert piloted the offense with 21 points, finishing one rebound shy of a double-double with nine. The senior went 6-16 from the field, draining 7-9 from the charity stripe. The Bears had four others finish in double-digits including Morgan Stamper and Leeanna Mcnulty who both had 12, Stamper adding nine rebounds. Bailey Frazier finished with 11 points on 4-8 from the field while Sierra Feltner dropped 10.

The Bears managed a 42.9% clip from the field in the battle, edged slightly by Talladega who finished at 43.2% as a team. Talladega also took the rebounding by a slim margin, outboarding the Bears 43-41.

Hailey Free connected on a jumper to put the Bears on the board in the first, giving them a 2-0 lead which would be one of two UPIKE leads of the period. Talladega launched a 6-0 run that lasted 2:30 which featured a three-pointer, shifting the momentum to the Tornadoes. The Bears fought back, taking back the lead on a three-pointer by Frazier with 4:27 to go in the period. Talladega ended the period with a 7-2 run to hold a 20-14 headed into the second quarter.

The Bears outscored the Tornadoes 22-20 in quarter two, shooting 50% from the field. After going down by 10 in the first minute, the Bears launched an 8-2 run to come within five thanks to shots from Free, Mcnulty, and Feltner.
UPIKE brought the game to within three points twice in the final minutes off the half, trailing 40-36 heading into the locker room.

UPIKE's offense matched the Tornadoes in the third and fourth quarters, drawing at 17 apiece in the third and 23-23 in the fourth but the first quarter lead built by Talladega held out. The Bears managed a 10-5 run over four minutes of the final quarter, with a Mcnulty free throw making it a 64-63 ball game with 6:23 to go. Frazier and Stamper kept the Bears alive in the final two minutes but a costly foul call and a pair of made free throws sealed the deal for Talladega.

The Bears drop to 3-3 on the season following the out-of-conference weekend, with their losses coming by a combined eight points. Coach William's unit looks to rebound on Thursday, December 2nd as they head to Marietta, GA to take on the Life Running Eagles.