Box Score
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State women’s basketball held visiting Tennessee State to one field goal during an 11-minute portion of the second half Monday night, and the Eagles rallied to beat the Tigers 61-47 and improve to 11-5 and 4-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
With just more than 12 minutes remaining in the contest, the Tigers led by three, but from there on out, MSU’s defense allowed just two more field goals.
The Eagles built an early 15-8 lead on the strength of two Tiffanie Stephens treys, but TSU rallied with an 8-2 run – capped by a Okafor layup at 8:41 – to take their first lead 18-17. The Tigers eventually pushed their lead out to 24-19 before the Eagles scored the next seven. Bozeman’s jumper at 3:46 of the first half allowed MSU to re-take a two-point lead (26-24).
Kesi Hess buried a three-pointer from the right side with 1:38 remaining to make it a 29-28 TSU game, and that’s how the opening half concluded.
Tennessee State took a 40-37 lead with 12:26 left after LaDona’s Pierce’s jumper, but after trailing for the first nine minutes of the second period, Courtney Lumpkin’s driving layup at 11:08 gave her team a 41-40 advantage. Less than a minute later (10:14), Bozeman drained a triple for a 44-40 Eagle lead.
That basket came in the midst of a 12-0 Eagle run that concluded with Hamilton’s pair of free throws to make it 49-40 MSU with 7:06 left. Pierce finally stopped the Eagle run with a charity toss at 6:40. That ended a six-minute scoring drought for the Tigers. But, the Eagles continued to pour it one. Martin swished a trey at the 5:01 mark to push the Eagles lead out to 13 (56-43).
Hamilton led the Eagles with 16 points, while Ashar Harris posted her fourth double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Okafor topped the Tigers with 12 points.
MSU held TSU to only 29 percent shooting. From outside the arc, MSU was 8-of-22.
The Eagles travel to Tennessee Tech on Thursday, Jan. 7 for a contest that is scheduled to tip at 6:30 p.m. EDT.
