Williamsburg, KY – The UC women's basketball team had four players in double figures and led wire-to-wire in their 82-54 win over UT Southern Saturday afternoon on Randy Vernon Court. With the win, the Patriots extend their win streak to four straight games and improve to 13-6 overall and 7-4 in conference play, while the Firehawks move to 11-6 and 6-5 against the MSC.
Kaylie Monday led the way for UC with a team-high 16 points on 7-9 shooting and dished out five assists in the game.
Channing Lewis just missed her second straight double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds, while
Abbi Douglas chipped in 12 points, making it the 18
th time this season the sophomore has notched double-figures.
Lillie Hall provided the spark off the bench adding1 5 points and seven rebounds, while
Kassie Monday dished out a team-high six assists, grabbed five rebounds and added nine points.
Cumberlands jumped out to a quick start with five straight points from Lewis in the opening minute off assists from Douglas and
Kassie Monday. A couple minutes later, UC went on a 5-0 run that included an offensive rebound and putback by Hall to extend the lead to 10-2 with 5:56 remaining. UT Southern went on a 10-4 run cutting the lead to one-possession before
Kassie Monday completed a three-point play as part of five straight points pushing the lead to 19-12. The Patriots defense increased it's pressure and forced a trio of turnovers, which resulted in four points over the final minute to take a 23-14 lead.
Halle Jones converted a jumper for the Firehawks to open the second quarter. The Patriots responded with eight unanswered including a three-pointer by Lewis and a three-point play by Douglas to push the lead to 31-16 two minutes into the period. Cumberlands continued their stellar defense contesting shots and limiting the Firehawks to just two points over the next six minutes, while offensively, scoring nine straight points, five of which came from
Kaylie Monday, as the Patriots extended their lead to 40-18 with 3:10 left. UT Southern responded with a 9-2 run to close out the half and cut Cumberlands lead to 42-27.
UT Southern looked to continue their momentum into the third quarter as the opened on a 6-2 run cutting the lead to 44-32 with 8:21 left. The Firehawks look to get the lead to single digits, however, Lewis blocked a shot and on the ensuing possession
Shelby Moore converted a layup to halt the run. The two teams traded baskets throughout the rest of the quarter, while UC converted 5-6 from the charity stripe to extend their lead to 57-40 after three quarters of play.
Cumberlands found their offensive rhythm in the fourth quarter outscoring UT Southern 25-14 and shooting 83.3% (10-12) from the field over the final ten minutes. In the opening minutes of the quarter
Kaylie Monday and
Destiny Haworth both hit from behind-the-arc to give the Patriots a 65-44 advantage. Two minutes later,
Kaylie Monday tallied consecutive fastbreak layups, before Lewis and Hall added five straight points extending the lead to 74-48 with 3:41 remaining. Cumberlands added an 8-2 run capped off by
Reagan Begole finding
Abbey Estes for three for the 82-54 final.
UC has now won six straight inside the O. Wayne Rollins Center.
The Patriots will return to the court Thursday, January 27, when they travel to face third-ranked Campbellsville at 6 p.m. Live video of that game is available
here with live stats available
here.
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