Henderson, TN – The (RV) Cumberlands women's basket surged in the third quarter but it wasn't enough as they fell to Freed-Hardeman 84-63 in their regular season finale Saturday afternoon at the Brewer Sports Center.  The Lions improve to 19-11 overall and 11-11 in conference play, while the Patriots move to 19-11 overall and 13-9 against the MSC.

Kassie Monday lead the way for UC with a team-high 20 points, seven rebounds, and six assists to set the tone.  Channing Lewis capped off a strong week with 17 points and five boards, while Abbi Douglas added 13 points and six rebounds.  Kaylie Monday chipped in six points, six rebounds, and a pair of steals. 

UC jumped out to a 5-0 lead as Douglas netted a pair before finding Lewis for a three-pointer three minutes into the first quarter.  The Lions went on a 5-0 run of their own, before Kassie Monday hit from long range to put the Patriots back in front 8-7 midway through the quarter.  Freed-Hardeman closed out the opening period on an 11-2 run to take a 16-10 lead.

The Lions extend their lead to eight before Douglas grabbed an offensive board and put it home to cut the score to 18-12.  Destiny Haworth hit from behind-the-arc as the two teams traded buckets over the next several minutes, however, Freed-Hardeman used a 10-2 run to stretch their lead to 34-21 with 2:16 left.  Kaylie Monday added a fast break layup to spark a 5-2 run that was capped off by a Douglas layup as Cumberlands cut the deficit to 36-26 at the break.

Both teams came out of the break strong as Lewis netted UC's first four points of the third quarter to make it 41-30 with 7:20 left.  UC added an 8-4 run that featured a trio of layups to cut the deficit to 47-38 with 3:41 remaining.  Freed-Hardeman pushed their lead to 14 points, however, UC closed out the quarter on an 11-4 run that included seven points from Kassie Monday to cut the deficit to 56-49 heading into the final period.

The Lions opened the fourth quarter on an 11-2 run, that spanned almost four minutes, to take a 67-51 edge.  UC continued to battle as Kassie Monday and Lewis scored four straight making it 67-55 midway through the quarter.  Freed-Hardeman went on a 14-3 run, before UC scored five of the final eight points for the 84-63 final.

The Patriots will be the third-seed in the Mid-South Conference tournament and have earned a bye past the opening round.  UC will face the winner of Pikeville and Shawnee State on Friday, February 25, at 9 p.m. ET.

For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics, please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, YouTube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.