Portsmouth, Ohio – Shawnee State women's basketball finished 2-0 at the Shawnee State Classic, handling Asbury (Ky.) 102-59 on Saturday afternoon.
The Bears and Eagles would play a close first quarter as Shawnee State would try to find footing early. The two teams would find themselves tied 11-11 with 5:38 to go. Shawnee State would take the lead and push it out to nine points, with a pair of Sienna King (FR/Shelby, Ohio) free throws making the score 23-14. Asbury would score the last four points of the first quarter to cut the SSU lead to 23-18 after one.
The Eagles would cut the lead down to two points at the start of the second quarter, but Shawnee State would immediately go on a run to assert their dominance on the game. An 11-0 SSU run capped by a Madison Ridout (SR/Jackson, Ohio) bucket would push the Shawnee State lead to 13, and Ridout would ensure that lead would not dip below double digits again. The senior guard had 18 points at halftime to lead SSU to a 49-29 lead at the break.
The third quarter would again belong to Shawnee State, but not after an extended run of Asbury keeping the game close. Bethany Koons' free throw with 2:46 to go would cut the Shawnee State lead to 17, but the Bears would respond by ending the quarter on a 15-3 run, capped by Hannah Miller (JR/Coal Grove, Ohio)'s buzzer beating three pointer to go up 76-47 heading to the fourth. The game would get out of hand from there as SSU would push their lead past 40 in a dominant fourth quarter to walk away 102-59 winners.
Madison Ridout had a career day for the Bears, scoring a career high 33 points and tying a career high with 13 rebounds, to go along with four steals, two assists and two blocks. Shania Massie (JR/Greenfield, Ohio) added 17 points, Hannah Miller had 16 and Bailey Cummins (SO/Brooksville, Kentucky) and Ashton Lovely (JR/Jamestown, Ohio) each had 10 for the Bears.
Autumn Herriford had 16 points to lead Asbury. Kelsey Johnson added 12 points and 10 rebounds, Bethany Koons had 11 points and Shelby McDonald had 10.
The win improves Shawnee State to 10-3 on the season. Asbury falls to 3-9. The Bears stayed perfect in the all-time series with the win, improving to 8-0.
Shawnee State will next play on Monday, December 18 when they travel to Puerto Rico for a pair of games. The Bears will play Puerto Rico-Mayaguez on December 18 and Interamericana San German (PR) on December 19. Tipoff of the December 18 game is set for 5:00pm, with the game on the 19th set for a 3:00pm tip.
