Box Score | Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State women’s basketball held visiting Eastern Kentucky to only two field goals over the final 7:11 Saturday, and the Eagles rallied for a 69-56 victory over the Lady Colonels in Johnson Arena.
MSU improved to 7-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference to stay within point blank range of first place. EKU dropped its 10th consecutive game to dip to 4-14 and 1-8 in the league. The Eagles have now won eight of the last nine in the series.
“I thought it was a tremendous, tremendous effort on our young ladies’ part,” MSU coach Tom Hodges said. “We weren’t displeased in the first half, we just felt like the ball didn’t bounce our way. We knew if we stuck to our game plan we’d be in business.”
The Eagles trailed 54-52 after EKU’s Marie Carpenter knocked down a jumper at 7:11, but EKU missed three straight field goals, and Linda Dixon tickled the twine with a three-pointer at the 5:54 mark that gave the Eagles the lead for good. Carpenter hit another bucket at 2:57 to make it a 62-56 Eagle lead, but EKU never scored again as MSU ran off a 17-4 run to finish the game.
Junior point guard Courtney Lumpkin led MSU with 22 points and a team high five assists, while senior Chynna Bozeman recorded 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals. Ashar Harris, who ranks third nationally in double-doubles, collected her 13th double dip with 12 points and 16 rebounds. After being held in check in the opening half, she scored 10 in the final half. Dixon contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Eagles only utilized six players with the starters playing 191 of the possible 200 minutes.
Carpenter topped all players with 23 points and she shot 10-of-21 from the floor. Alex Jones and Nadia Masson had nine rebounds each for the Lady Colonels, but MSU had a decisive rebounding advantage when the final horn sounded, 46-32. MSU also had a one-sided advantage in points at the free throw line, outscoring EKU 18-1 at the charity stripe.
MSU shook off a pesky defensive effort by EKU that held it to 25 percent shooting in the first half as the Eagles hit 55 percent (16-of-29) in the final half.
The Eagles trailed by eight, 33-25, at the half, but Lumpkin scored MSU’s first 10 points in the opening five minutes of the second period. Her effort erased EKU’s large margin, and MSU climbed back to within 37-36 at the 15:28 mark.
The Lady Colonels increased their lead to 50-43 after a trey by Carpenter with 10:18 left. But, Lumpkin hit a free throw, Harris sank a jumper, and Bozeman knocked down a pair of field goals as the Eagles rallied to tie the game at 50 with 8:09 remaining.
MSU finished the game shooting 40 percent, while EKU dipped to 39 percent for the game after hitting 45 percent in the first half.
MSU returns to action this week when Tennessee State visits on Thursday, Jan. 29 for a 5:15 p.m. EST tipoff.
