Box Score PIKEVILLE, Ky. – The No. 25-ranked Lindsey Wilson women's basketball team shot a season-low 27.5 percent from the field as the Blue Raiders fell on the road to No. 20-ranked Pikeville (Ky.) 64-58 on Thursday night at the East Kentucky Expo Center.
The loss snaps the Blue Raiders' (13-3, 2-2 Mid-South Conference) seven-game win streak, while the Bears (15-0, 2-0 MSC) remain undefeated on the year with the win.
Lindsey Wilson made just 19 of their 69 attempts from the field, struggling the entire night to find any kind of rhythm on the offensive end. The shooting percentage was a season low, surpassing the 33.3 percent the Blue Raiders shot in their season-opening loss to Marian (Ind.).
Despite opening the game shooting 1-for-16 from the floor and scoring just six points, Lindsey Wilson poured in 21 points in the second quarter to come all the way back and cut the Pikeville lead down to three points at 30-27 by the halftime whistle. The six points marked the first time all season the Blue Raiders were held to single digits in a quarter.
It was a combination of rushed shots, lackluster ball control and a stingy Pikeville defense that did the Blue Raiders in during the opening 10 minutes. Lindsey Wilson was unable to distribute the ball down into the paint and was often left to settle for outside jumpers.
But despite the struggles, Lindsey Wilson continued to work away and slowly but surely brought things all the way back from an 11-point deficit to tie the game at 25-25 after a three by Kayla Richardson, the lone three pointer made by the Blue Raiders in the opening half.
Pikeville responded with five-straight points, but Malerie Martin hit a jumper at the buzzer to cut the lead to three at the half.
After shooting 6.3 percent in the first quarter, Lindsey Wilson turned that into a 20.0 percentage by the half. Pikeville also struggled shooting the ball, making 30.6 percent (11-of-36) of their shots including just 3-of-13 attempts from beyond the arc. The Pikeville struggles were due in large part to the height of the Blue Raider interior defenders, who either turned away shots or forced the Bears to alter their attempts with their shot-blocking abilities.
The one aspect where Lindsey Wilson flourished was at the free throw line as the Blue Raiders made their first nine attempts from the charity stripe and finished 12-of-13 from the line. Cameron McPherson went 9-for-9 from the line.
Lindsey Wilson continued to fight in the third quarter and after missing back-to-back chances to tie the game, the Blue Raiders were finally able to bring things level at 40-40 after a basket by Courtney Sandlin.
Missed free throws from Pikeville allowed Lindsey Wilson to hang around, but the Bears closed out the quarter on a 9-4 run including a three at the buzzer to take a 49-44 lead heading to the final quarter.
Lindsey Wilson trimmed the lead again and got it down to two points at 57-55 with 3:42 to play, but the Blue Raiders went cold from there and Pikeville scored nine-straight points over the next three minutes to take a 64-55 lead. Heidi Huffman added a three with two seconds to play as the Bears won 64-58.
Lindsey Wilson finished with a season low field goal shooting percentage, but also hit a season-high 94.1 percent from the free throw line (16-of-17). The Blue Raiders also committed 21 turnovers, which the Bears turned into 17 points.
McPherson finished the night as the top Blue Raider scorer with 13 points, nine of which came from the free throw line. Chanel Roberts was the lone other Blue Raider in double figures with 10. Billie Hearn finished with 10 rebounds in the loss.
Pikeville's Aundrea Matchen finished as the top scorer with 23 points in the win.
Next up for the Blue Raiders is a trip to Williamsburg, Ky., to take on Cumberlands (Ky.) on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.