LEBANON, Tenn.--Cumberland women's basketball held a first-half lead against No. 7 Shawnee State, but the Bears put up 46 second-half points en route to a 66-53 loss for the Phoenix at the Dallas Floyd Phoenix Arena. 

Cumberland (2-2, 1-2 MSC) played tremendous defense in the opening quarter of the game holding Shawnee State to 1-of-17 from the field and just six first-quarter points, but Cumberland could not extend the lead to larger than four points leading 10-6 at the end of the first.

The second quarter was much like the first as Cumberland held on to the lead and continued to force tough shots not allowing Shawnee State to get comfortable and play the game that they want to play. The Phoenix pushed it out to a 22-12 lead after Lindsey Freeman hit a couple from the charity stripe with 4:47 left in the half. Shawnee State closed out the half on a 10-5 run to bring the halftime score to 25-20 in favor of Cumberland. 

The Bears took off at the start of the third quarter after Anyia Pride buried a three on the opening possession and Carson Roney scored six straight points to give the seventh-ranked Bears their first lead of the game. Cumberland fought back to get down by one-point after back-to-back triples from Abby Morgan and Freeman and three points from Gracie Bush, but the 39-38 mark was a close as the Phoenix would get.

The fourth quarter, much like the rest of the game, was very physical and taxing for both teams as three players fouled out. Pride hit her fifth foul with four minutes left leaving the game with 17 points and Abby Morgan and Mackenzie Trouten both fouled out for Cumberland in the closing minutes. Trouten posted 10 points and seven rebounds in the game. 

Roney and her teammate Brandie Snow did the rest of the damage for Shawnee State. Roney finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting and six boards and Snow finished with eight points and four rebounds. 

Freeman posted a team-high 12 points while Britany Miller scored 10 points and had five boards. Cumberland shot 27.6% from the field in the loss and 16-of-26 from the free-throw line. 

Cumberland will have two weeks off before playing at No. 2 Campbellsville on December 31 for their last game of the 2020 calendar year.