New Albany, IN – An impressive first half of shooting coupled with solid consistency in the second half helped push the UC Women's Basketball team to their third straight win with a 74-66 victory over the Grenadiers of IU-Southeast on Saturday. The victory improves the Pats to 11-3 overall on the season heading into Christmas break.
 
Trading baskets early was the name of the game, but Cumberlands would use a pair of short runs to open up a solid lead over IUS. Tied at five a piece, UC would go on a 14-5 run which included a pair of threes from Megan Morton to take a 19-10 lead with just over a minute and a half to play in the opening quarter. A basket for each team would make it 21-12 at the end of the quarter. Cumberlands would push their lead all the way out to 19 during the second quarter with the score 38-19, but a 6-0 run to end the half would see UC lead 38-25 at the break.
 
The third quarter saw the Grenadiers continue to attempt to cut into the lead. Another 6-0 run to start the third got IUS within six at 38-32, but that was as close as they would get in the frame. The Patriots pushed back with an 8-0 run of their own, getting the margin back out to 14 at 46-32 with six to play in the quarter. The Grenadiers would cut again into the lead, ending the quarter trailing the Patriots 55-47 with ten minutes to play. The lead for UC would grow back out to 16 with a 69-53 advantage with just under four to play. A slight push by IU-Southeast would cut the margin down, but UC would come away with another win with eight, giving them a three-game winning streak to build upon after the holiday break.
 
A pair of Patriots turned in career-best performances on the day as Megan Morton led with a career-high 19 points to go with her four assists, three rebounds, two blocks, and a steal. Hannah Lawson also tallied a career-high 17 points while going a perfect 4-4 from three point range. She also chipped in three rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Jasmine Rhodes added 13 points off the bench with five rebounds and a pair of steals.
 
Cumberlands shot 40% from the field in the game as well as 42.1% from beyond the arc. IU-Southeast was led by Lauren Lambdin with 24 points and six rebounds. The Grenadiers shot 41.5% from the floor and 40% from deep in the game. UC had a big advantage, doubling the Grenadiers on point off of turnovers as the Patriots scored 16 off 19 IUS turnovers while the opposition would score just eight points off nine turnovers by Cumberlands.
 
UC returns to the hardwood on January 3^rd as they will travel to Atlanta, Georgia to take on the Cougars of Carver College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 pm.
 
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