Pikeville Outlasts Reinhardt for Women's Basketball Tournament Championship

KINGSPORT, Tenn. - Calling it a fight to the finish is an understatement.

Fourth-seeded Pikeville crawled its way to the 2024 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Women's Basketball Tournament championship with an 85-79, double-overtime win over No. 2 seed Reinhardt on Saturday.

In its first season as a member of the AAC, this is Pikeville's first championship in the league. Additionally, this is Pikeville's first women's basketball tournament championship since 1998 when it was a member of the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC), which is now known as the Rivers States Conference (RSC).

Reinhardt's Ashley Woodroffe tied the game at 60-all with 1:20 left in regulation. Both teams had chances to win it in the allotted time, but the game moved on to overtime.

There was high drama to conclude the first overtime period. A Woodroffe layup put Reinhardt up 66-64 with 15 seconds to go. However, Bailey Frazier was fouled with .6 still on the clock. The Lady Bear senior sank both free throws to send the game into a second overtime.

Midway through the second extended period, Pikeville used an 8-2 run to open up a 78-71 cushion with 50 seconds remaining. Twice, Woodroffe hit a 3-pointer to pull Reinhardt within four, but Pikeville hit its free throws down the stretch to win 85-79.

Frazier poured in 27 points and hauled in 16 rebounds in earning Tournament MVP honors. Teammate Morgan Stamper hauled in a tournament-record 25 rebounds as she also scored 24 points. Stamper also made the All-Tournament Team as did Allie Stone of Pikeville; Woodroffe and Tarrah Gibson of Reinhardt; Jaycie Jenkins of Milligan; and Kaitlynn Hennessee of Bryan.

Woodroffe led all scorers with 28 points.

Pikeville won the battle on the boards, outrebounding Reinhardt 61-37.

With the tournament win, Pikeville punched its ticket to the national tournament, joining Bryan who received an automatic berth after winning the regular-season championship.

Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, Feb. 29
Game 1 - No. 8 Truett McConnell (12-17) def. No. 9 Columbia (12-17), 55-44 (box)
Game 2 - No. 7 Tennessee Wesleyan (13-12) def. No. 10 Union (8-21), 65-63 (box)

Thursday, Feb. 29
Game 3 - No. 1 Bryan (24-5) def. No. 8 Truett McConnell (12-18), 75-49 (box)
Game 4 - No. 4 Pikeville (22-7) def. No. 5 Johnson (17-12), 75-66 (box).
Game 5 - No. 2 Reinhardt (25-2) def. No. 7 Tennessee Wesleyan (13-13), 56-42 (box)
Game 6 - No. 3 Milligan (23-6) def. No. 6 Montreat (16-13), 61-46 (box)

Friday, March 1
Game 7 - No. 4 Pikeville (23-7) def. No. 1 Bryan (24-6), 74-63 (box)
Game 8 - No. 2 Reinhardt (26-2) vs. No. 3 Milligan (23-7), 76-60 (box)

Saturday, March 2
Game 9 - Championship Game - No. 4 Pikeville (24-7) def. No. 2 Reinhardt (26-3), 85-79 (2OT) (box)