Pikeville, Ky. - The UPIKE Bears won their Mid-South Conference home opener tonight over Shawnee State by a final score of 79-68.
UPIKE got off to a fantastic start defensively, holding Shawnee scoreless for the first five minutes of the game. During that stretch, Morgan Stamper had four points, Bailey Frazier had a layup and Allie Stone connected from three to put UPIKE up 9-0. Shawnee got back in the game late in the quarter, but UPIKE led 18-12 after one. UPIKE outrebounded Shawnee 14-5 in the first quarter and held SSU to shooting 27% from the field.
Shawnee opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run to take the lead, but it did not hold long. The two teams were neck-and-neck in the second quarter with Shawnee holding a 30-28 leading going into the half. Katie Collopy had five points and two rebounds in the second quarter.
Mary Englert hit a three to give UPIKE a 31-30 lead early in the third quarter. The third quarter, similar to the second, saw both teams trade points and leads. Later on in the quarter, Shawnee held a 46-44 lead with two minutes left. From there, UPIKE went on a 10-0 run that was started by a layup and-one by Allie Stone. Stone would then go on to hit a three with 0:07 left in the quarter to give the Bears a 54-46 lead heading into the fourth quarter. UPIKE shot 60% from the field and was 3-6 from three in the third quarter.
UPIKE was able to stave off Shawnee in the fourth quarter. SSU cut the lead to one but UPIKE shut the door on their comeback bid by going 12-12 from the free throw line in the fourth. Twelve of UPIKE's 25 fourth quarter points came via the free throw line. Mary Englert and Allie Stone both had four points in the final 1:33 to ice the game and give UPIKE a 79-68 win.
Mary Englert had 20 points tonight to lead UPIKE in scoring. In doing so, Englert is now 11th all-time in scoring with 1,482 career points. Englert also led in assists (7) and was second in rebounds (8) just behind Morgan Stamper who finished with 13. Allie Stone was second in scoring with 18 points and was 3-4 from beyond the arc. Freshman Katie Collopy had a season-high 15 points, shooting 3-4 from beyond the arc and 4-4 from the free throw line. As a team, the Bears shot 46% from the field and were 41% from three.
The Bears are now 4-2 (3-1 MSC) following tonight's win in the battle of the Bears. Next up for UPIKE is a matchup Saturday afternoon against Midway University at the Appalachian Wireless Arena.
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