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MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State women’s basketball team certainly got a taste of how to win a close game Monday night at Johnson Arena.
While it was only an exhibition game, the Eagles staved off a pesky Lincoln Memorial squad to win 59-55 in a contest marred by 55 turnovers. Chynna Bozeman scored a team high 18 points, Linda Dixon tallied 11, and Courtney Lumpkin recorded 10 points, including a key go-ahead three-pointer with 1:11 remaining when the Eagles trailed 55-54.
“I thought this was a nice game for our team to be in and a good situation for us. Obviously we would like to cut down on our turnovers, but I‘m proud that our girls found a way to win,” said coach Tom Hodges.
The Eagles committed 25 turnovers but forced the Lady Railsplitters into 30 giveaways and came up with 16 steals. In the two exhibition games MSU played, it forced 58 combined opponent miscues. Neither team was able to fully take advantage of the other’s mistakes, though, as LMU had 14 points off Eagle turnovers, and MSU converted 13 points off the 30 LMU mistakes.
“Give LMU a lot of credit. They came ready to play and we really had a hard time controlling the ball,” said Hodges. “We need to be able to execute better and score more points. We had opportunities and we didn’t execute.”
The Eagles grabbed 39 rebounds but were out-boarded by the Lady Railsplitters, who hauled in 43 rebounds. MSU got a combined 29 rebounds from sophomores Ashar Harris and Jayne Cox. Harris, who had 19 caroms last Monday against Kentucky Wesleyan, pulled in 18 rebounds tonight. Cox snagged eight offensive rebounds and three defensive boards for 11 total.
The Eagles shot nearly the same in each half, with a 34 percent total in the opening 20 minutes and a 37 percent showing in the final half for a game total of 36 percent. After holding LMU to only 26 percent (7-of-27) in the first period, MSU saw the Lady Railsplitters shoot 45 percent (13-of-29) in the final half to keep the game close.
Whitney Holmes paced LMU with 15 points, while Chelsea Craig had 12 in reserve. Neither team lit it up from three-point range as MSU shot 4-of-18 and LMU hit just 3-of-17.
The Eagles led 29-24 at halftime and had a 40-33 advantage with 11:10 left after a Bozeman jumper. LMU doubled up MSU’s total in the next seven minutes and cut the Eagle lead down to 46-45 with 4:59 left in the contest.
LMU took its first lead of the night, 53-51 with 2:05 left after Dayshalee Salaman hit a pair of free throws. However, Bozeman converted a three-point play with 1:44 left to push MSU back ahead 54-53. Salaman struck again 12 ticks later, nailing a running shot to put her team back out ahead 55-54.
With 1:15 showing on the game clock, Bozeman drove the ball from the right side into the lane. With nowhere to go and a triple-team defense against her, she threaded a pass out to the top of the key where Lumpkin caught it and calmly swished a three-pointer at the 1:11 mark. That gave the Eagles a 57-55 lead they never relinquished. LMU missed three shots and turned the ball over once in the final minute as the Eagles held on.
MSU begins the regular season Friday at no. 10 University of Kentucky. The Eagles will be facing former Morehead State coach Matthew Mitchell for the second time in as many years. The 11 a.m. tipoff time in Memorial Coliseum means Friday’s game will be the first official NCAA Division I women’s basketball game in the nation this season.
