The women's basketball program at Shawnee State collected another victory in Mid-South Conference action as the Bears, behind a 23-point, seven-assist, five-rebound outing from Bailey Cummins and three additional double-figure scoring outputs from Bethany Mackin, Anyia Pride, and Sydney King, obtained a 85-66 victory over Life on Saturday afternoon to move to 11-1 overall and 2-0 in MSC play inside Waller Gymnasium.
Shawnee State, who collected its third straight victory with Saturday's win, shot 35-of-71 from the floor (49.3 percent) while holding Life (6-4, 0-2 MSC) to a 26-of-71 mark (36.6 percent) from the field. The Bears also shot 6-of-13 from the floor from three-point territory compared to Life's 4-of-12 mark from distance.
Down 5-2 early, Shawnee State obtained a basket from King off of an offensive rebound to cut the gap to a 5-4 count with 7:42 remaining in the opening quarter of play. Cummins then added a layup with 6:54 to go to give SSU the lead, then assisted on a bucket by Pride as part of a 7-0 run to give SSU a 9-5 lead at the media timeout.
Following the timeout, Cummins added a second runner in the lane, then whipped an excellent chest pass across her body to find a wide-open Mackin on the baseline to increase the margin to a 15-8 cushion with less than three minutes to play in the first quarter prior to a 5-0 run by Life that led to a 15-13 lead for SSU after the opening quarter of competition.
In the second frame, Life built on its 5-0 run as Tianna Tullis worked her way inside for a bucket to obtain a 17-15 advantage, while Tierra Lindsey scored consecutive baskets as part of a 15-3 Running Eagle push that extended Life's lead to a 23-18 count.
The defensive activity of Mackin and Brandie Snow, however, allowed Shawnee State to go on a game-changing 11-0 push as Mackin and Snow's play led to an 11-0 run for Shawnee State, with Cummins nailing a floater to help aid the spurt as SSU took a six-point edge (29-23) midway through the second quarter of action. In the back-and-forth effort, however, Life went on a 9-4 run, with Lindsey scoring inside again with 33 seconds to play, to cut Shawnee State's lead down to a 33-32 margin at the half.
In the second half of play, Mackin's and-one with 8:51 to play in the third quarter, a Cummins floater, and a King turnaround on three straight possessions allowed the Bears to take a 40-35 lead with just over seven minutes to play in the third.
Pride then added to the lead with six consecutive points, including a three from the top of the circle, and when Pride obtained her third foul, Carson Roney and Mackin followed in her place by drilling a three-pointer and a layup that gave Shawnee State a 52-41 lead with 5:15 to play in the third quarter of action. Hagen Schaefer's trey from the left corner with 1:47 left in the third frame. Cummins' layup off the glass with 1:12 to play in the next-to-last stanza, and Mackin's three-pointer from the right wing allowed SSU to extend its lead to 66-50 heading into the final quarter of action.
Another Cummins to Mackin assist led to another basket for the latter with 8:55 to play in the final frame, a trey by Cummins with 8:18 to go, and a basket in the low post from King with 7:09 left allowed Shawnee State to extend its lead to a 73-50 count. Schaefer's three-pointer with four minutes left, Pride's layup with 3:21 to play, an acrobatic layup from Cummins with 2:52 to go, and a free throw from Abbie Kallner pushed the Bears' lead to 85-58 -- its largest of the game -- as SSU cruised from that point on forward.
Shawnee State will be back in action on Friday evening when the Bears play (RV) Faulkner as part of the Penn Station Classic. Game time is at 6 p.m.
