Pikeville, KY – Women's basketball punched their ticket to the MSC Tournament Quarterfinals on Monday evening with a sound 76-60 win over Shawnee State. UPIKE will travel to Bowling Green, KY where they will take on third-seeded Cumberlands (Ky.) on Friday, February 25th.

Coach Williams' team made it a clean 3-0 sweep of SSU with the win, downing Shawnee from MSC Tournament play. The Bears were in control the entire contest, outscoring Shawnee by ten points or more in three of four periods.

UPIKE shot 41.9% from the field on 26-62 while hitting 16 of 23 free throws for 69.6%. The Bears had 17 more rebounds, and six more assists.

In the driver's seat for the Bear's offense was Mary Englert who put together an efficient 19-point outing, also dishing out a team-high five assists. Englert finished with seven boards and shot 7-12 from the field. Tallying her impressive 19th double-double was Morgan Stamper who wrapped up with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The Bears opened the game with a 14-5 run which set the tone for UPIKE to dominate the remainder of the contest. Sierra Feltner splashed a jumper with 2:59 left in the first half which put the Bears up by 22, their largest lead of the half.

The second half was no different and kicked off with Bailey Frazier draining back to back threes assisted by Englert and Feltner. By the 3:33 mark, another triple from the hot-hand of Frazier had the Bears up 56-29. Abby Adkins showcased her ability to play downhill in the fourth, offering a valuable seven minutes of action where she made it to the free throw line eight times and made six.

MSC Quarterfinals | Friday, February 25th

Bowling Green Arena plays host to this year's basketball championships and play begins on Thursday night with the first pair of quarterfinal games The Bears have the late game on Friday and will face off with the Patriots at 8:00 PM (CT) / 9:00 PM (ET).

The winner of UPIKE vs Cumberlands will advance to the semifinals and take on the winner of Campbellsville and Freed-Hardeman on Sunday, February 27th at 3:00 PM (CT).  

Tickets to attend the Bears quarterfinal matchup in the 2022 MSC Championship must be purchased in advance. Tickets are $12.00 and can be purchased here.