SHEPHERDSTOWN, W. Va. – Seniors Kennedy Boggs and Tori Purk surpassed 1,000 career points on Saturday, leading Urbana University to its third straight conference win as the Blue Knight women defeated Shepherd, 87-75. UU improves to 7-6 overall and 6-3 in Mountain East Conference play.
Purk, a Mechanicsburg High School graduate who entered the contest needing 24 points to reach the career milestone, scored a career-high 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor. Her layup with 24 seconds remaining put her over the mark. Purk joined the Blue Knights as a junior transfer from Edison State last season, and has scored 381 points in Blue and Grey.
Boggs also eclipsed the milestone late in the game, sinking a pair of free throws with 1:20 left. The senior floor general finished with 13 points, while registering the first game of her career with seven assists and seven rebounds.
Freshman guard Megan Beachy hit five 3-pointers to finish with 21 points in a team-high 37 minutes. UU’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Danie Shafer tallied 16 points and grabbed seven boards.
For the first time this season, UU out-rebounded its opponent in back-to-back games while beating the Rams 44-39 on the glass. Sophomore forward Jazmyn Haley hauled down a team-high eight caroms and freshman forward Erin Morrow pulled down seven.
Purk poured in eight points in the second quarter, including a jumper to put UU ahead 31-26 midway through. The Rams kept battling, though, and the squads went back-and-forth until halftime when UU held on to a two-point lead, 41-39.
After the break, things looked bleak for the Blue Knights after four straight missed shots and a turnover allowed Shepherd to string together an 8-0 run. SU held its biggest lead at the 8:10 mark of the third quarter, 47-41.
UU finally found its second-half groove thanks to its seniors, as a Boggs layup tied it at 52-52 heading into the under-five media timeout in the third. Then Purk caught fire out of the timeout, netting seven of UU’s nine points to close the quarter with 61-56 advantage.
The Blue Knights put the game out of reach with a 13-4 run to open the final period.
UU will put its longest win streak of the season on the line at Fairmont State on Tuesday.
UU men fall
Shepherd’s A.J. Carr scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Ryan McTavish tossed in 20 points to lead the Rams to a 100-73 win over the UU men at the Butcher Center on Saturday.
Shepherd improves to 9-6 overall, 4-5 in MEC action, while Urbana falls to 1-13, 0-9.
Jahmere Howze scored 14 points and Mike Newton tossed in 12 for the Blue Knights. Austin Adams added 10 points.
