Lady Bulldogs squeak out 60-54 road win

ST. CATHARINE, Ky. — TaCouya Allen scored 12 points and Jessica Pace and London Elie each netted 11, as No. 6 Cumberland avenged its only loss of the season with a hard-fought 60-54 victory over St. Catharine College on Saturday at Lourdes Hall.

The Bulldogs (22-1, 13-1 Mid-South) lost their only game of the year on Jan. 3 to the Patriots, 57-55, but overcame a sluggish start and a big run by the home team in the second half to pull away in the final minutes. Cumberland trailed 48-47 with 3:21 remaining before scoring 13 of the final 19 points of the contest, including five from Pace and three by Lebanon's Elie.

Simone Ryan recorded 10 points off the bench for CU, eight in the first half, while Josette Campbell filled the stat sheet with eight points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Elie and Pace each grabbed seven boards as well, helping the Bulldogs overcame foul trouble. Cumberland was whistled for 22 fouls in the game compared to 13 for St. Catharine (14-7, 8-6), with the Patriots committing four of those offenses in the final two minutes.

The Bulldogs led 28-23 at the half and raced out with a 15-5 run to start the second period, with Campbell and Allen both nailing 3-pointers and Briannica Tye’s basket giving CU a 43-28 advantage with 14:15 remaining. But the Patriots came storming back, tying the game at 45 with a 17-2 spurt over the next nine minutes. Cumberland made just 1-of-11 field goals and missed both free throw attempts during the stretch, allowing the home team back into the game.

Rianne Hofstraat had a field goal and a 3-pointer to start the run and Reilley Poirier added three buckets, including the game-tying field goal with 6:15 remaining in the game. Ryan scored CU’s only points during the run before Elie’s field goal with 5:30 left.

Janae Howard tied the game on SCC’s next possession and one free throw by Poirier put the Patriots ahead, 48-47, but Elie made 1-of-2 foul shots on the Bulldogs next trip and Pace got the offensive rebound and putback on the second shot, putting CU ahead for good.

Pace added another field goal and two free throws before Allen and Campbell each added two foul shots, as the Bulldogs made all six attempts from the charity stripe in the final 1:29 of the contest. Elie got an easy layup in the final seconds for the Bulldogs, who pushed their winning streak to nine games overall with the victory.

Poirier led all players with 20 points and 17 rebounds, including 10 points and 10 boards in the first half, while Howard finished with 17 points and Hofstraat added 10. St. Catharine shot just 37 percent from the floor in the game, 27 percent in the first half, but made 19-of-26 foul shots overall to keep the game close.

After a treacherous and lengthy bus ride to St. Catharine on Saturday morning, through the snow and ice in Tennessee and Kentucky, Cumberland arrived at the gym about 30 minutes before game time and started slowly. The Bulldogs trailed 10-5 about seven minutes into the contest after a bucket and a 3-pointer by Hofstraat.

Yalonda Davis and Ryan came off the bench to provide a much-needed spark for CU, with the duo combining for 14 consecutive points, including all of an 11-2 Bulldog spurt that gave the visitors a 19-15 advantage with 7:36 left in the half. Cumberland pushed its lead to eight after field goals from Campbell and Allen and headed to the locker room with the five-point advantage.

Cumberland will begin a four-game homestand Thursday against Campbellsville at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs will also take on Lindsey Wilson on Saturday and face Shawnee State and Rio Grande next week. The club has just six regular season games remaining before the Mid-South Championships begin Feb. 28 in Frankfort, Ky.

Late Patriot push stifles Bulldogs

ST. CATHARINE, Ky. – St. Catharine College used a 22-5 run in the last 5:37 and drained 32-of-38 free throws to defeat Cumberland, 76-70, Saturday evening at Lourdes Hall.

Down 11 in the final minutes, the Patriots outscored the Bulldogs 17-0 to regain the lead they had surrendered at the 14:19 mark. St. Catharine only connected on five field goals during the final stretch but went 13-of-15 from the line compared to zero trips for CU.

Creshaun Holt was the game’s leading scoring with 24 points (18 of which came in the first half), Lester Gude registered 13 points and Kenneth Stripling added 11.

Stripling’s bucket pushed CU’s lead to 11 before St. Catharine took control of the game in the second half on a 3-point play by SCC’s William Tolefree with 5:06 remaining in the contest. Three CU turnovers continued to put the ball in the Patriots’ hands, and St. Catharine’s Arthur McMillan converted another 3-point play to give his team a 66-65 lead with just over a minute to go.

Two Tolefree free throws and a bucket by Travis Wilkins pushed the Patriots out in front 71-65 with 41 seconds on the clock. Gude hit a three to cut SCC’s lead to three with half-a-minute to play. The Patriots’ Dominique Roy hit the back end of a double bonus to raise the lead to four, and a field goal by Stripling cut the lead to two with nine seconds left. St. Catharine went on to hit their next four free throw attempts while CU was unable to get a good look at the basket.

Cumberland (8-14, 4-10 Mid South) started the game sinking two free throws due to a pregame technical called on SCC, and Holt scored the next eight points for the Bulldogs to put CU up 10-4 four minutes into the game. Tolefree connected on a 3-pointer to tie the game at 24 with 6:39 remaining in the first period and then hit two free throws to give the Patriots a two-point advantage.

The next 11 points for SCC came from the foul line before Holt made a bucket at the first half buzzer as the Bulldogs left trailing 40-36.

In the second half, Lester Gude pushed the Bulldogs out in front 41-40, draining a 3-pointer within the first minute of play. Over the next eight minutes, neither team led by more than three points until Towns scored two shots in the lane for a 55-50 Cumberland lead. Towns then connected with Holt on a lob for a dunk, giving the Bulldogs a seven-point lead with 9:38 remaining in the game.

Twenty-eight fouls were called on the Bulldogs compared to 11 on SCC, leading to the 38 trips to the line for the Patriots, while CU stepped up to the charity stripe eight times.

Arthur McMillan led St. Catharine (10-10, 6-8) with 18 points. Wilkins and Tolefree scored 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Cumberland traveled to its last non-conference game at Bethel on Monday night before beginning a four-game homestand Thursday against Campbellsville at 8 p.m. at the Dallas Floyd Center.