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MOREHEAD, Ky.—Morehead State women’s basketball coach Tom Hodges was again wearing eye-catching pants, but this time it was the players on the floor making the statement.
Hodges picked up his first win as a collegiate head coach Friday night as MSU dispatched Central Arkansas, 69-48, in the second game of the Comfort Inn and Suites Classic at Johnson Arena.
Hodges, who wore colorful suits in the Eagles’ first two games, was upstaged Friday by three of his players scoring in double figures, including Ashar Harris’ double-double.
MSU had struggled with turnovers in its first two games, but settled down and committed just 14 on Friday, with 16 assists to offset that total. Four different Eagles had three or more assists.
“I’m pleased with how we passed and shared the basketball,” Hodges said. “For us to reach our potential we need to share the basketball.”
Early in the game it looked like more of the same with four quick turnovers in less than four minutes that resulted in a six-point deficit for the Eagles. Chynna Bozeman quickly turned things around with the first four points of her game-high 18. Harris tied it with a layup and Linda Dixon drilled a 3-pointer to spur a 25-4 Morehead State run that turned MSU’s fortunes.
“I was really, really pleased with our defensive intensity,” Hodges said. “We took our practice to the game floor tonight and played our game.”
The Sugar Bears got late layups from Megan Herbert and Courtney Duever to cut the intermission gap to 11 at 34-23, but MSU turned on the jets in the second half and pushed the lead as high as 28 on a 3-pointer by Channing Hillman before UCA cut it to the final margin of 21 with the final seven points of the game, five of which came from Herbert.
Harris had 14 points and 11 rebounds to pace Morehead State’s significant advantage in rebounding. The Eagles led 42-29 on the glass. Courtney Lumpkin scored 16 and dealt out five assists. Bozeman sunk five of MSU’s 10 3-pointers.
Norfolk State won the first game of the four-team, round-robin tournament, 60-50 over Houston Baptist. Central Arkansas faces Norfolk State Saturday at 5 p.m. and MSU will host HBU at approximately 7 p.m.
