Box Score
Box Score (PDF)
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Host SIU Edwardsville outscored the Morehead State women’s basketball team 37-29 in the second half Friday night and rallied past the Eagles 67-64 at the Vadalabene Center in both teams’ 2009-10 season opener.
“Rebounding let us down. A couple of key rebounds down the stretch got us. The biggest thing that hurt us tonight though was turnovers. That is uncharacteristic of us, but I give them credit. They applied some pressure that we can’t simulate in practice. I think they outplayed us in the first five or six minutes of the second half and for the rest of the night we were kind of clawing and scratching our way back into it,” said MSU head coach Mike Bradbury.
Overall, the Eagles did out-rebound the Cougars 47-46, but SIUE brought down 11 second half offensive rebounds and turned that into 11 second chance points. The Eagles committed 22 turnovers leading to 22 SIUE points. MSU led 35-30 at the half but was only able to shoot 28 percent overall in the final 20-minute period.
Junior Chynna Bozeman led MSU with 13 points and also had eight rebounds and a team best three assists. Freshman Ashar Harris notched a double-double of 11 points and a team high 10 rebounds in her first collegiate game. Sophomore Abby Steele scored a career high nine points off the bench, and sophomore Ashley Martin grabbed 10 rebounds. The Eagles collected 23 offensive boards in the game.
The Cougars were led by Ashley Bey with a game high 18 points. Raven Berry did some damage off the bench with 15 points, including 13 in the second half. She had a pair of three-point plays as well. Melia Duncan totaled 12.
MSU grabbed an early 5-0 lead but that was quickly erased as the Cougars went on a 16-6 run to lead 16-11 with 14:04 left. MSU finally was able to re-gain its advantage at 29-28 after a Bozeman trey with 3:32 left in the opening half. Steele hit a jumper with 1:13 left that gave the Eagles their 35-30 lead at the intermission.
The Cougars effectively held MSU at bay for the first nine minutes of the second half. The eagles managed just one field goal and were outscored 19-4 down to the 11:25 mark. At that point, the Cougars held their largest lead of the night at 10, 49-39.
The Eagles trailed 54-46 with eight minutes left but were able to scratch their way back into contention. A Tiffanie Stephens three-ball with 3:47 left brought MSU to within 57-55. However, just as quickly as MSU thought it was within striking distance, SIUE ran the margin back out to 64-55 with 120 ticks left on the clock. Harris canned a short jumper, and Tiffany Hamilton delivered a trey to get the Eagles to within 64-60. Hamilton then drained another one from beyond the arc, and MSU trailed only 64-63 with 31 second remaining. Bey made one of two free throws to make it a 65-63 game.
Steele then stole an inbounds pass and was fouled with 17 seconds left. She hit the first free toss but missed the second. Harris got the rebound, her 10th, but Bey stripped the ball away and made two free throws to settle the final margin. Bozeman launched a three-ball at the buzzer but fell short.
Morehead State returns home to host the University of Kentucky on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.
