Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Morehead State women’s basketball suffered its first Ohio Valley Conference loss Tuesday night, losing a nail-biter at Austin Peay, 60-57, in the Dunn Center.
The Eagles (8-4, 3-1 OVC) had two chances to tie it with under 10 seconds, but Chynna Bozeman’s first 3-point attempt was long and the second one, this one at the buzzer, was blocked by Whitney Hanley.
Bozeman had tied it with a 3-pointer with 2:41 remaining, but the Eagles managed only two points following Bozeman’s swish. Tied at 55, Austin Peay’s Jasmine Rayner split a pair of free throws. Meghan Bussbarger then scored a jumper off an offensive rebound that followed Rayner’s miss on the second free throw. Ashar Harris hit a pair of free throws to pull within one, but Whitney Hanley countered with a pair of freebies with 16.4 seconds left to push the APSU lead to back to three and were the last points scored by either team.
“I felt like we let the physicalness of the game get to us,” MSU coach Tom Hodges said. “We just didn’t make the sharp plays we usually do and need to. Defensively we had a few lapses and that will always come back to you.”
Harris led the Eagles with 18 points and 12 rebounds – her seventh double-double of the year - and Courtney Lumpkin scored 17 and dished out four assists. Linda Dixon added 12 points. Dixon and Chynna Bozeman each had three blocks and Dixon had a career-high seven steals as the Eagles recorded a game high 14 steals.
The Eagles opened up a 12-point first half lead after falling behind by five early in the game. Lumpkin swished a 3-pointer, starting a 12-0 run that swung the momentum to the MSU side and gave the Eagles a seven-point lead. That lead got to 12 following a Harris layup, but the Lady Govs countered with a 12-2 run, including nine unanswered points, in the closing minutes of the half to get within two. A free throw and layup by Lumpkin pushed the intermission margin to five at 32-27.
The Lady Govs opened the second half with an 8-3 run, offsetting three freebies by Harris and tying the game on a Meghan Bussabarger traditional three-point play. From there the teams battled back and forth, with neither team grabbing more than a three-point advantage for the remainder of the half.
Rayner led APSU with 13 points and 12 rebounds and Bussabarger and Hanley each had 12 points.
The Eagles had trouble finding the offensive groove in the final half as they managed to shoot only 29 percent. APSU, meanwhile, shot 44 percent.
The Eagles return to action on Dec. 28 at Marshall. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. EST.
