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KENT, Ohio – Despite a career-high 24 points from senior Linda Dixon, the Morehead State women’s basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to Kent State 65-64 as Diamon Beckford hit the winning three-point basket with 3.1 seconds left to send the Golden Flashes home with the win in the MAC Center Friday night.
The Eagles fall to 1-2, while KSU improves to 1-2.
“Hats off to Kent State. They are a good MAC opponent and played a very physical game tonight," said MSU head coach Tom Hodges. "By the same token, I feel like this game could haunt us. We played well in stretches, but there were a lot of possessions that could’ve gone our way and didn’t. This was the first time on the road for our newcomers, and I hope it will serve as a learning experience for those young ladies.”
MSU senior guard Courtney Lumpkin poured in 15 points, five rebounds and five steals, while junior Ashar Harris tallied her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Trisha Kewson had a double-double (17 pts, 12 rbs) to pace KSU.
The Eagles led by as much as eight in the first half but found themselves trailing 32-29 at the break. The second half proved to be eerily similar. The Eagles took a 59-52 lead following a Lumpkin trey at the 4:30 mark, but KSU quickly erased the deficit. Jamie Hutchison's three-pointer with 3:08 remaining gave the hosts a 60-59 lead.
The Eagles then moved ahead by three (63-60) with 1:32 left. Hutchison scored her eighth and final point to make it 63-62, but Lumpkin hit the back end of a one-and-one free throw situation to set the Eagle lead at 64-62. Kent State got the ball to Beckford for the game-winner beyond the three-point arc though.
Morehead State hit 10 three-pointers, including a career-high six by Dixon, who finished 8-of-13 from the field in 38 minutes. The Eagles forced 26 Golden Flash turnovers and turned that into a 31-10 advantage in points via mistakes. But, MSU shot just 33 percent for the game (21-of-64) and saw KSU hit 45 percent of its field goal attempts while out-rebounding the Eagles 47-33.
“We made it too easy for Kent State’s shooters tonight," said Hodges. "We missed a lot of defensive assignments and didn’t rotate very well. That’s on me, as a coach. I need to do a better job of preparing our team.”
The Eagles return home next week to host Marshall on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. MSU will be holding a Thanksgiving canned food drive at the game. Anyone donating a canned food item will receive a ticket for just $1.
“We can’t dwell on this loss. We need to learn from the film and get back to having quality practices," Hodges commented. "It won’t be long until we face a good Conference USA opponent in Marshall. That game will be the day before Thanksgiving and I hope we have a nice crowd at Johnson Arena.”
