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MOREHEAD, Ky. – Senior guard Courtney Lumpkin poured in a career-high 23 points, including two free throws with a second left to ice the victory, and fellow senior Linda Dixon contributed a career-high 20 points as the Morehead State women’s basketball team rallied in the second half to defeat visiting Ohio 62-57 Sunday at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles improve to 1-1, while the Bobcats fall to 0-1 with the season opening loss. MSU is now 7-2 all-time against Ohio.
Lumpkin got the hot hand in the first half, scoring half (17) of MSU’s points by the break. The Eagles only trailed twice early in the opening period and led by as many as nine before taking a 34-28 advantage to the locker room. Dixon hit four three-pointers, including two in each half, and tallied 12 points in the final period to lead the comeback charge after MSU fell behind by as many as six.
Tenishia Benson shot 7-of-13 from the floor and had 18 points and eight rebounds to lead the Bobcats, Erin Bailes hit a pair of treys and notched 12 for the visitors.
After forcing nationally-ranked Kentucky into 27 turnovers Friday night, the Eagles’ pressure caused Ohio to commit 29 floor mistakes today. On the flip side though, Ohio forced 21 Eagle turnovers and scored a 10-2 advantage in fast-break points.
MSU trailed 3-2 and 5-4 early but used a 10-4 run to push a 13-12 lead out to a 23-16 advantage with 5:36 left in the opening half. Ohio cut the margin to 23-19 following a Mariah Byard triple, but the Eagles scored five straight to take their largest lead at 28-19.
Ohio opened the second half on a 9-0 run to erase its six-point disadvantage, and the Bobcats allowed just one Eagle field goal in the first five minutes. At the 14:22 mark, the Bobcats led 44-38. But, four straight free throws by MSU freshman guard Natalie Greenwell started the rally for the Eagles as they went on an 8-0 run. Dixon’s three-pointer with 11:29 left gave the hosts a 46-44 lead they never relinquished.
The Eagle lead grew to 58-52 in the final five minutes, but the Bobcats rallied themselves. Benson’s fast-break layup trimmed MSU’s lead to 58-57 with 1:39 remaining. Ohio had a chance to take a lead, but Dixon blocked Kat Yelle’s layup with a minute left, and Greenwell came up with a game-saving steal at mid-court with 19 ticks left. Lumpkin hit four free throws in the final 19 seconds to seal the win.
MSU shot 36 percent (20-of-56) for the game, but was out-rebounded 42-30. Junior forward Ashar Harris led the Eagles with eight boards. Morehead State hit 14-of-16 free throws and also had 13 steals. Sophomore guard Tyler Ituen and Dixon had three steals apeice for MSU. Ohio finished with a 41 percent shooting efficiency but hit just 12-of-18 at the charity line.
Morehead State hits the road for the first time this year on Friday, Nov. 18 when it travels to face Kent State at 7 p.m.
