Portsmouth, Ohio – Bailey Cummins (JR/Brooksville, Kentucky) reached 1,000 career points as No. 8 Shawnee State women's basketball defeated Pikeville 81-58 at Waller Gymnasium on Saturday.
The Bears opened the game by scoring the first seven points, as Cummins reached 1,000 career points early with a free throw and a floater in the lane. Cummins became the 33rd player in Shawnee State history to reach the milestone, one week after teammate Hannah Miller (SR/Coal Grove, Ohio) reached the same mark. After a Pikeville timeout, SSU continued their dominance, with the lead reaching double-digits at 12-2 with 4:16 to go in the quarter. Shawnee State eventually stretched their lead out to 17 points on a Laken Smith (SO/Waverly, Ohio) three, and after Kayla Mullins hit a tough lay-in on the other end, Smith hit in the post to put Shawnee State up 24-7 after one quarter.
The lead reached 20 points on an and-one play for Hannah Miller, putting the Bears up 27-7. SSU steadily built the lead up even farther, eventually getting it to 26 points on another Lovely three. SSU maintained that lead until late in the quarter, when a pair of Cummins free throws with 1:03 to go pus SSU up 47-19, the lead they would take into halftime.
Pikeville would begin a furious rally in the third quarter, punctuated by 10 points from Brianna Burbridge in the quarter. Shelbi Knauer's three with 1:57 would cut the lead to a second half low 55-37. However, Shawnee State bared down and put the game away, maintaining the lead and eventually pushing it out to 77-47, their largest lead of the afternoon. Pikeville would cut the lead to 81-58, but SSU would run out the clock to clinch the victory.
Shawnee State shot 48.4% from the field, going 30-62 overall and 8-24 from three. SSU's defense held Pikeville to 37.3% from the field, and an even more impressive 8.3% from behind the arc. Both teams went 13-20 at the free throw line; Shawnee State outrebounded Pikeville 36-34 and had 10 turnovers to Pikeville's 16.
Ashton Lovely (SR/Jamestown, Ohio) led four Bears in double figures with 19 points, while adding seven assists. Hannah Miller had 16 points, Bailey Cummins had 14 and Shania Massie (SR/Greenfield, Ohio) added 11.
Brianna Burbridge had a double-double to lead Pikeville, scoring a game-high 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Emily Baker had 11 points, and Kayla Mullins added 10 for UPIKE.
The win sees Shawnee State improve to 14-3 on the season, and begin Mid-South Conference play 1-0. Pikeville drops to 11-6 on the year, and drop to 0-1 in the league. The Bears now lead the all-time series 39-4, and have won 18 straight games against Pikeville overall.
Shawnee State women's basketball returns to action on Thursday, January 10 when they host Cumberlands (Ky.). Tipoff in Portsmouth is set for 6:00pm.
