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MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State women’s basketball team, led by a 19-point, 18-rebound double-double from junior forward Ashar Harris, knocked off Austin Peay 74-67 on New Years Eve Saturday at Johnson Arena.
Morehead State improves to 5-9 on the season and 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Austin Peay drops to 3-12 and 0-12 in league action. The Eagles defeated APSU for the third straight time at home as well.
Harris, at 5-foot-11, led the Eagles with her sixth double-double of the season and 35th on her career while also adding four assists and a team-best five steals. Grabbing nine boards on each end of the floor, she moved into seventh place in career rebounds at MSU with 839, passing former standout Tasha Gales who had 822 from 1999-03.
“I don’t know of anybody in the country that gets more out of her body and her frame than Ashar Harris,” said MSU coach Tom Hodges.
Senior guard Courtney Lumpkin also poured in 17 points and dished off a team-high five assists after scoring a career-high 30 points in a road win over Southeast Missouri on Wednesday. Senior guard Linda Dixon and sophomore guard Allie Turner each reached double figures with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
“I also don’t know of another coach in the country that inherited more than what we did coming in here last year,” said Hodges. “If you think about it, Courtney Lumpkin is on pace to be the all-time leading assist-getter, Ashar Harris is probably going to end up the all-time leading rebounder at MSU, and Linda Dixon is the most underrated player in the OVC and the best defender.”
Austin Peay got a pair of double-doubles from Jasmine Rayner and Megan Bussabarger. Rayner had 10 points and 10 boards, while Bussabarger notched 15 points and 11 caroms. Whitney Hanley, who ranks fourth in the OVC in scoring, led the visitors with 21 points.
Morehead State pressured early and often, forcing the Lady Govs into seven quick turnovers and a 13-4 lead at the 14:20 mark in the first half. The Eagles pushed their lead to 39-19 with 2:56 left in the half on a 22-4 run that included 15 straight points. The run was punctuated by six points each by Harris and Turner.
Austin Peay finished the half with 16 giveaways, with the Eagles turning that into22 points. MSU closed out the first half with a 20-point lead at 43-23.
“I thought we played really inspired in the first half, defensively and offensively,” said Hodges. “Offensively, we got the running game going and that was good to see, and defensively we guarded them so they never really got comfortable.”
The Lady Govs threw up a full-court pressure defense and continued to fight back in the second half, using 15 MSU turnovers and a 9-0 spurt to close within eight points at 67-59 with less than three minutes left in the game. The Lady Govs never got closer than seven points, as the Eagles iced the game with free throws in the final minutes. MSU was 5-for-6 at the charity line in the final 58 seconds.
“This was very reminiscent of the Robert Morris game. We did a very nice job of building a comfortable lead, but we just got too comfortable,” said Hodges. “Give Austin Peay all the credit in the world. We just had some fundamental breakdowns there late in the game. I’ve got to a do a better job managing those types of situations, especially with our youth on the floor.”
The Eagles shot a season-high 44 percent (27-of-62) and out-rebounded their opponent for the third consecutive game, winning the rebound battle 43-34.
The Eagles head on the road for a two-game OVC swing as they battle Tennessee Tech on Saturday Jan. 7 at 6:30 ET and then venture to Jacksonville State on Monday, Jan. 9 for a 4 p.m. ET contest.
