Box Score
PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Teqa McNeal squared the game, 42-42, at the 14:14 mark in the second half, but a 19-7 run from University of Pikeville over the next eight minutes led to the hosts 76-61 win at the East Kentucky Expo Center, Thursday evening in Mid-South Conference women's basketball action.
 
Bluefield (9-9, 4-6 MSC) struggled from the field on the night, but especially during the second half of play. The Lady Rams were just 7-for-26 (26.9%) over the final 20 minutes, while UPike knocked down 11-of-27 (40.7%) shots in the second half en route to the win.
 
BC also committed 24 turnovers on the evening, one shy of its season high. UPike took advantage of the giveaways, scoring 20 points on the Lady Rams' giveaways. Conversely, BC only claimed four points on 17 turnovers from the Bears.
 
Janee Simmons paced BC with game highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds. McNeal finished with 17 points as the only other Lady Ram in double-figure scoring. Destiny Tolliver also ripped down 11 rebounds and added a career-high nine blocks.
 
UPike (9-12, 4-6 MSC) had four scorers in double figures, led by 18 from Callisha Johnson. Lakeria Crowder (17), Cheyenne Madden (15) and Khalilah Quigley (12) also chipped in double-digit scoring efforts, while Quigley's nine rebounds led her team.
 
For the game, BC was just 20-for-64 (31.3%) while UPike was 20-for-55. From three-point range, BC connected on four in the first half (4-for13), but was 0-for-8 in the final 20 minutes of play. UPike was 4-for-9 on the night from beyond the arc.
 
BC was able to take the rebounding edge, 46-39, including 19 offensive boards leading to 15 second-chance points.
 
Bluefield was forced to play from behind for much of the evening, as they came out cold from the floor by missing its first seven shots. UPike earned a 9-0 lead during that time, before McNeal broke BC's game-opening drought at the 14:59 mark, knocking down her first three-pointer of the evening.
 
The Lady Rams then began to slowly chip away at the host's lead, despite the Bears continued first half attempts at the free throw line. UPike was 15-for-19 at the charity stripe during the opening 20 minutes of play.
 
An outside shot from Valerie Lebedeva closed the deficit to just four, 27-23 with just less than six minutes to play in the first half. A McNeal trey shortly after made the Bears' lead three, but Johnson answered on the other end with a three of her own.
 
Back-to-back hoops from Simmons made it just a two-point contest, 32-30 with less than three minutes left in the half.
 
McNeal hit her third trey of the first half to pull Bluefield even at 33-all, for the first tie since the opening of the ballgame.
 
A BC turnover under the Bears' basket led to a layin and the host's 35-33 lead at the break.
 
Bluefield steps out of conference on Saturday, trekking to face Washington Adventist University at Takoma Park, Md.