Pikeville, Ky. - The UPIKE Bears started the New Year off on a good note with a 65-43 win over the UT-Southern Firehawks Thursday evening. 

Both teams got off to slow starts until Mary Englert scored a layup with 6:59 left in the first. UPIKE held the Firehawks scoreless through the first 6:02 of the game. Bailey Frazier and Mary Englert hit back-to-back threes to put the Bears up 14-7 at the end of the first. UT-Southern made the score 16-15 with 6:22 left in the second. UPIKE responded by going on a 16-4 run to close out the quarter. UPIKE led 32-20 at the half led by Allie Stone who finished the second with eight points and four rebounds. 

UPIKE's sharpshooters and smothering defense took over in the third. Allie Stone and Bailey Frazier hit back-to-back threes to put the Bears up 18. Just like they did in the first quarter, the Bears held the Firehawks scoreless for the first 7:24 of the third quarter. UPIKE outscored UT-Southern 21-8 and led by as many as 26. The Bears also held the Firehawks to shooting just 18% in the third quarter while shooting 50% themselves. UPIKE led 53-28 after three quarters.

UPIKE held their lead in the fourth and held UT-Southern to shooting 37% from the field. Bailey Frazier had four points and a pair of steals while freshman Brooklyn Frazier closed out the game with a fantastic layup. UPIKE took this one 65-43.

Bailey Frazier had a game-high 15 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Morgan Stamper led UPIKE with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Sierra Feltner had seven points, eight rebounds and five assists. Similar to their last few games, the Bears held a massive advantage in time with the lead. UPIKE led for 36 minutes and 59 seconds and never trailed in tonight's game. 

Tonight's victory is the Bears' fifth in a row and their record climbs to 11-4 (6-3 MSC). Next up for UPIKE is a matchup with Cumberland (Tenn.) Saturday afternoon at the Appalachian Wireless Arena. 

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