Women's Hoops Gets Back on Track With Win over Bears

GEORGETOWN, Ky. - After struggling on the road in two tough arenas last week, the Georgetown College women's basketball team returned home to the friendly confines of Davis-Reid Alumni Gymnasium on Thursday night to open a four-game homestand as they begin the stretch run in the Mid-South Conference season.

The home environment proved valuable, as the Tigers righted the ship and opened the stretch with a convincing win over the University of Pikeville, 87-65.

Georgetown (14-7, 7-6 MSC) had five players - and nearly a sixth - score in double figures as the Tigers rallied from an early deficit to cruise past the Bears (10-10, 4-9 MSC).

Pikeville scored first and held the lead early in the game. After Georgetown leveled the score at four apiece, the Bears scored six of the next seven tallies and the Bears led by as many as five points twice. The Tigers kept their composure, though, and with 3:56 to go in the opening stanza, a Madison Darnell layup ignited a 6-0 spurt that saw GC claim its first lead on a layup from Grace White at the 2:37 mark. A 3-pointer from the Bears briefly gave UPike the lead back, but the Tigers closed the frame on a 9-2 run. Lexie Stapleton capped the run with a long range bucket just two seconds before the quarter ended to give GC a 22-17 with 10 minutes in the books.

In the second frame, the Tigers began to methodically stretch their advantage. Stapleton buried another 3-pointer with 8:44 to go in the half to push the Tigers' lead to six at 25-19, a triple from White with 5:09 to go pushed the lead to 33-26, and a lay up from Darnell at the 1:10 mark gave Georgetown its first double-digit advantage of the night, 43-33. At the half, the Tigers led comfortably, 45-38.

Georgetown dominated the third quarter, especially on the defensive end of the floor. The Tigers held the Bears to only 10 points in the period on 5-for-17 shooting. They also forced four turnovers in the frame, and with 10 minutes to play, the Tigers led by 15, 63-48. The fourth quarter continued the momentum from the third, as the Tigers again played excellent defense, and when the final horn sounded, Georgetown took the win, 87-65.

Stapleton led all scorers in the game with 19 points on 6 of 10 shooting, including a 5-for-7 performance from behind the arc. Callie Jackson followed with 15 points, White scored 13, and Jazzmyn Elston and Jalynn Landversicht each added 11. Darnell narrowly missed a double-figure scoring night with eight points, but she pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds and dished up five assists in a solid effort. White also distributed the ball well with seven helpers.

As a team, Georgetown connected on 34-of-65 (52.3%) shots in the game, including 9-of-19 (47.4%) from long distance. At the foul line, the Tigers were 10-for-16 (62.5%), and Georgetown dominated the battle of the benches, 35-19.

The homestand continues on Saturday with the 100th all-time meeting between Georgetown and the University of the Cumberlands (13-7, 7-5 MSC). Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. Eastern.