Portsmouth, OH – Kassie Monday and Channing Lewis combined for first 13 points to give the Patriots women's basketball team an early lead and the never looked back defeating Shawnee State 74-50 Wednesday night.  With the win, the Patriots improve to 14-9 overall and 8-7 in conference play, while the Bears move to 4-13 overall and 3-10 against the MSC.

Destiny Haworth led the way for the Patriots finishing with 19 points and hit 5-8 from behind-the-arc.  Kassie Monday added 14 points, while Abbi Douglas and Channing Lewis chipped in 12 points apiece.  Douglas and Kaylie Monday led the Patriots with five rebounds each, as Lewis and Kassie Monday recorded three assists each.

The Patriots jump out to the quick lead as Destiny Haworth found Kassie Monday on the wing for a three-pointer to open the game.  Monday and Channing Lewis added the next eight Patriot points, capped off by Monday finding Lewis for a layup giving UC an 11-4 lead midway through the opening quarter.  UC continues to player strong defense, limiting the Bears opportunities, while Destiny Haworth added a pair from long range to extend the lead to 19-11 with 2:41 remaining.  Cumberlands picked up their intensity crashing the offensive glass resulting to four second chance points as UC closed the quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 25-13 advantage.

Lewis continues her strong performance beginning the second quarter with a three-point play on the offensive end and a block on the defensive end.  That block resulted in a Douglas layup to extend the lead to 30-13 just over a minute in.  Shawnee State scored seven unanswered points, over a minute span, before UC responded with a 5-2 run of their own to give the Patriots a 38-22 edge with 4:26 left.  The two teams traded baskets over the next couple of minutes until Haworth drained a pull up jumper to extend their lead to 45-28. Marnae Holland added a bucket in the closing seconds for the Bears to cut the lead to 45-30 at the break.

Cumberlands opened the third quarter with seven straight points, including five coming in transition off of a Douglas layup and a Lewis three-point play extending the lead to 52-30 with 8:05 left.  UC's strong shooting continues with as Haworth and Kaylie Monday hit three straight from long-rang giving the Patriots  a 61-32 advantage midway through the third quarter. Shawnee State went on a 6-2 run before Douglas and Kassie Monday each added a layup in the final minute to take a 67-38 advantage.

Shawnee State opened the fourth quarter with eight unanswered points until Kassie Monday got to the bucket for a layup to make it 69-46 in favor of UC.  Both teams went cold from the field as neither team was able to hit a field goal over the next six minutes of action until Sydney Dalton put in a layup to extend the lead to 72-48 with 1:09 remaining.  Whitney Caldwell added the final bucket of the game for the 74-50 final.

The win gives Cumberlands their first season sweep of the Bears since the 2013-14 season.   UC closed out the game shooting 48.2% from the field and 42.1% from beind-the-arc.

The Patriots will return to the court Saturday, February 5, when they return home to host top-ranked Thomas More.  Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. with live video available here and live stats available here.
 
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