PIKEVILLE – Despite cutting a seven-point lead to just one in the final minute, UPIKE women’s basketball couldn’t find all the pieces to finish the comeback and fell to St. Francis (Ind.) on Tuesday, 68-65.
The Bears won three of the four quarters and held control of the game most of the time. However, the third quarter was UPIKE’s demise.
Saint Francis outscored Pikeville 24-9 in the third quarter to erase what was a nine-point Bears lead at halftime. The Cougars were able to totally flip the script from the first half, simultaneously cranking up the offense and locking in on defense.
Pikeville shot just 28.6 percent in the third quarter, while Saint Francis shot 61.5 percent. The majority of that damage came from Lauren McBryar who made five of her seven shots from long distance to lead all scorers with 27 points.
Mary Englert once again led UPIKE with another strong shooting day, going 7-9 and a perfect 3-3 from the free-throw line. Mia Greatrex also had a strong day, scoring 14 points and grabbing five rebounds.
After falling behind by seven with 46 seconds to go, USF made a free throw and a pair of layups from Alexis Reed cut that lead to four. Englert stole the resulting inbounds pass and got the hoop and harm bring Pikeville within one.
USF hit two free throws, but both attempts at a game-tying three were blocked on UPIKE’s final possession.
(Source: UPIKE Sports Information Office)