Portsmouth, OH – UC Women's Basketball took to the road to continue Mid-South Conference play on Thursday as they would take on the NAIA eighth-ranked Bears of Shawnee State University. Cumberlands came out with a fire, leading from the opening tip through the first quarter of play. There, Shawnee State would catch fire and never cool off as they would pull away for a 104-63 win over the Patriots. The loss sends UC's record to 12-5 on the year and 0-2 in MSC play.
 
The first points of the game would come from the free throw line by Kayla Bruner. After Shayla Simpson added a three, the Patriots held a 5-0 lead. Baskets by Bruner, Simpson, and Callia Cropp would send UC to a seven-point lead at 11-4 midway through the first. UC's largest lead would come with two minutes to play in the frame after Hannah Lawson would sink her seventh point of the quarter, giving the Patriots a 20-11 lead over the Bears. Shawnee would go on a 7-0 run to close the period, making it a two-point game at 20-18.
 
A 15-5 run by the Bears over the first 3:38 of the second quarter saw Shawnee State take the lead by a score of 33-25. They would continue that trend as a 15-6 run to close the frame would send the teams to the locker room with the Patriots trailing 48-31. A prolific second half of scoring by the Bears saw Shawnee outscore UC 56-32, giving them the 104-63 victory over the Patriots.
 
Three Patriots tallied double figures led by Shayla Simpson with 13 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Jasmine Rhodes added 12 points off the bench with six rebounds while Kayla Bruner chipped in ten points with seven rebounds and three steals. Cumberlands shot 34.2% from the field but just 17.4% (4-23) from beyond the arc. UC also struggled from the charity stripe, shooting just 9-21.
 
The Bears had five played score in double digits led by the first triple-double in the MSC this season from Bailey Cummins. She led all scorers with 22 points along with 11 assists and ten rebounds. SSU shot 57.1% from the floor along with 77.3% from the free throw line. They also had 57 points scored off the bench in the game.
 
UC continues their MSC road trip on Saturday, January 12^th to Pikeville, Kentucky to take on the Bears of the University of Pikeville. Tip-off is slated for 2 pm.
 
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