FRANKFORT, KY (Women's Basketball) – The Bears were able to find success shooting the ball from long range thanks to contributions from Ashton Lovely (FR/Jamestown, Ohio) and Madison Ridout (SO/Jackson, Ohio), as the Shawnee State women's basketball team went on to defeat the University of Pikeville by a score of 88-69 in the semifinal round of the Mid-South Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Frankfort Convention Center.
Lovely finished the contest as the team's leading scorer with 34 points, and Ridout added 15. The MSC Co-Player of the Year Ali Zieverink (SR/West Chester, Ohio) finished with 24 points.
Zieverink, Lovely and Ridout opened the scoring for Shawnee, taking an early 6-2 lead. Pikeville answered with a three, putting them behind by one. SSU was able to put together a run at the end of the first quarter, going on a 9-4 run. Lovely ended the first by draining a deep triple with a hand in her face.
Pikeville went on a strong run in the middle of the second quarter, reducing Shawnee State's lead to four. Lovely hit three triples in the final three minutes of the period to stretch the Bear's lead to 15 at the half. Lovely finished the half with 19 points
It seemed like déjà vu when Pikeville went on another run to open the third, reducing SSU's 15-point lead to 4. Jonessa Moore (JR/Cincinnati, Ohio) and Zieverink were able to establish themselves down low with back-to-back baskets and stop the Pikeville run. The Bears were in front 56-49 going into the final 10 minutes of the game.
The fourth quarter belonged to the Bears, as they took their largest lead of the game (20), with 2:05 remaining. Shawnee State closed this one out with clutch free throw shooting from Hannah Miller (FR/Coal Grove, Ohio) and Lovely. The Bears advanced to the next round with an 88-69 victory.
Shawnee State finished the game shooting a blistering 52 percent from three-point range and shooting 49 percent from the field.
The Bears will play second-seeded Campbellsville University in the MSC Tournament finals on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
