Pikeville, KY – After taking down the Tigers on Saturday (RV) UPIKE women's basketball faced off with Georgetown again on Monday, completing the season sweep with a 81-72 victory. The Bears improve to 13-6 overall and 9-6 in conference play, standing right in the middle of MSC standings at sixth.
One highlight for the Bears collectively was their execution from the free-throw line where they hit 21 of 25 attempts. From the field, UPIKE hit 46.7% on 28-60 shooting.
Alexis Reed played a tough 29 minutes in Monday's win and led the Bears with 20 points. The performance is just short of her season-high 22.
Brianna Burbridge tallied 16 points and nine rounds, going 6-10 from the field.
Sierra Feltner put up 15 points while
Morgan Stamper powered her way to a 13 point, nine rebound final line.
It was Georgetown who got off to an early advantage, playing one possession ahead of the Bears for the opening 2:30 in the first. UPIKE's offense had been solid up to that point and got a boost from Burbridge as she drained a triple to make it a one-point game with 7:00 to go. Burbridge would strike again from the free throw line in the backend of the first, this time giving the Bears their first advantage of the game as it was 13-11 UPIKE at the 3:46 mark.
The two teams battled back and forth, tying the game twice more before UPIKE took a one point advantage into the second period. Reed opened the second with back-to-back jumpers that built some momentum for the Bears but the Tigers trailed close behind for much of the second.
Morgan Stamper connected on a couple of key free throws later in the quarter, followed up by shots from Burbridge and Reed, UPIKE led by two with 1:40 left in the half. In an intense sequence to close the half, the Bears snagged two offensive rebounds before Burbridge splashed a baseline jumper in the final second to give the Bears a one point advantage at the break.
It was the junior Feltner who set the tone to open the second half for UPIKE, opening with a pair of tough shots to put the Bears up five. At the 7:00 mark Feltner once again connected from the field and gave UPIKE a seven point advantage.
Bailey Frazier's three pointer with 332 left in the period further extended the Bears' lead and they would lead for the remainder of the quarter.
Frazier drilled a heat-check three to open the fourth and the Bears were rolling with a 12 point lead. Three minutes later, Georgetown launched a 6-0 run that shrank UPIKE's lead to just two and revealed a new urgency for the Bears. Stamper and Reed answered with baskets to recover the Bears lead as the teams prepared for the final minutes.
The Bears maintained consistent production as the game came to a close, and sealed the deal with free throws in the last minute.
UPIKE women's basketball will be back in action later this week as they are set to take on (12) Shawnee State on the road.
