Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
LEXINGTON, Ky. - For the first half Friday morning, the Morehead State women's basketball team played toe-to-toe with ninth-ranked Kentucky. The Eagles could not keep up with UK's powerful pressure defense, and the "Cats pulled away to defeat the Eagles 82-48 in the first NCAA Division I women's game of the year at Memorial Coliseum.
The Eagles forced Kentucky into nine turnovers and held the top 10 club to only 36 percent shooting as they trailed but just seven after the game's first 20 minutes. However, UK turned up the full court heat in the final half, forcing 20 Eagle mistakes and outscoring MSU 55-28. The Eagles made 36 turnovers for the game.
"Kentucky's defensive tenacity was really the story of the game," said MSU coach Tom Hodges, who was making his debut as a head coach for the Eagles. "I was proud of the fact that we fought until the end though. We made some plays at the end when we could have given in. We felt like we gave ourselves a chance and I think there were some positive things we can take out of this game, especially the first half and being able to out-rebound them."
MSU did out-rebound the 'Cats, 43-39, as sophomore
Ashar Harris grabbed a team and game high 12 boards. Junior
Linda Dixon pulled in a career high nine caroms as well as scoring nine points in 34 minutes.
Senior
Chynna Bozeman hit a game high four three-pointers and led the Eagles with 16 points. Freshman
Allie Turner came off the bench to score seven points in her first collegiate action.
UK was led by All-American Victoria Dunlap with 18 points and A'dia Mathies with 18 as well. MSU did a solid job defensively on Dunlap as she was only 4-of-16 shooting while hitting 10 free throws.
MSU's 36 mistakes led to 40 Wildcat points, while UK also outscored the Eagles 42-14 in the paint. MSU's bench was outscored 32-8 by UK's bench as all five MSU starters played more than 30 minutes.
The Eagles kept the contest close throughout the entire first half and held a one-point lead (17-16) with 5:54 left after a Bozeman three-pointer. But, the 'Cats went on a 7-0 run to push ahead 23-17. Bozeman sank another trey at the 1:45 mark to make it a 23-20 UK advantage before the home team scored the final four to lead by seven at the break.
Kentucky effectively sealed the deal with an 18-2 run to begin the final half. The Eagles' lowest deficit in the last 20 minutes was 19 points on two occasions. Leading 57-37 with 7:24 left, Kentucky started a 15-1 run to balloon the margin out to 34.
Morehead State hits the road again Sunday as they'll travel to South Bend, Ind., to face the 12th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday night at 7 p.m.
