KINGSPORT, Tenn. – No. 4 University of Pikeville knocked off fifth-seeded Johnson (Tenn.) University 75-66 in their first ever appearance in the AAC tournament on Thursday afternoon at the MeadowView Marriott Conference Resort and Convention Center.
 
The day was highlighted by sophomore Allie Stone scoring her 1,000^th career point on a bucket late in the first half of play.
 
With the win, the Bears advance to Friday's semifinals where they will play No. 1 Bryan (Tenn.) College, which picked up a 75-49 win over Truett-McConnell, at 6 p.m.
 
The Bears came out firing. After the Royals scored first, the Bears went on an 8-2 run. The first four came inside by Morgan Stamper, and then, after freshman Bekah Gardner scored for the Royals, Stone hit two jumpers to give the Bears an 8-5 lead.
 
From there the Bears closed the quarter on a 16-3 run. Stone was absolutely rolling, scoring seven more in the stretch as the Bears held Johnson to 1-for-8 shooting. The quarter ended with a Stone layup, a Rachel Bush layup and a jumper by Stone, and the lead was 24-10.
 
Leading 29-17, the Bears went through a 4:00 stretch where they scored 11 of the next 14 points. Senior Julia Parker led the way, scoring five, including two free throws with 3:10 left as the lead swelled to 40-20.
 
The highlight of that run was Stone's three-point shot with 4:20 left to give her 1,000 career points, and when halftime came, the Bears led 43-27.
 
Johnson (17-12) refused to quit, and an 8-0 run early in the fourth quarter got the lead to single digits. Freshman Emily Wilson and freshman Hannah Jones had four each, cutting the UPike edge to 63-55 with 6:18 left.
 
UPike responded, and after Bush pushed it back to 10 with a jumper, sophomore India Blyth nailed a three to make it 13, 68-55, with 5:01 left.
 
From there, the Royals got it to single digits two other times the Bears held on.
 
Stone led all scorers with 21 points and was joined in double digits by three teammates, including Stamper, who finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds. The Independence product recorded her 16^th double-double of the season and now has 52 in her career.
 
Blyth finished with 12 by splashing in 4-of-7 from downtown, and Parker added 10.
 
Wilson led the Royals with 20 points, followed by junior Jordan Heifner with 14. Heifner added three rebounds, three assists and three steals.