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RICHMOND, Ky. – Morehead State women’s basketball rallied from a nine-point first half deficit and outscored host Eastern Kentucky 39-28 in the second half to defeat the Lady Colonels, 71-62, in McBrayer Arena Saturday night.
Senior Chynna Bozeman scored 16 second-half points and finished with 28 for the game, leaving her just four short of breaking Donna Murphy’s MSU career scoring record of 2,059 points. Junior Courtney Lumpkin tallied 19 points and a season-high nine assists, and Ashar Harris posted her 18th double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds despite battling foul trouble.
“The composure this team displays every night and the big plays they continue to make simply amazes me,” said coach Tom Hodges, whose team improved to 19-8 and 12-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
The Eagles trailed by two at the half, but Lumpkin opened the second half with a three-pointer to give her team a one-point lead. Alex Jones hit a jumper before Harris’ runner in the lane gave the Eagles a 37-36 advantage they never relinquished. In fact, Harris’ shot catapulted the Eagles to a 14-0 run, capped by a Lumpkin layup at 13:45. At that point, MSU led 50-37.
MSU did have to hold on at the end and hit free throws to ice the game. EKU (6-19/3-12 OVC) cut a 10-point (61-51) Eagle lead down to just four (64-60) with 4:21 left. MSU hit six of its seven charity tosses in the final minute to seal the victory, their ninth in the last 10 meetings against EKU. It also marked the fifth straight MSU victory in McBrayer Arena.
The Eagles played from behind most of the first half. They had a 10-6 lead early, but that was MSU’s largest lead. With the contest knotted at 21 with 8:18 left, EKU began a 9-0 run, started by Nadia Mossong’s putback bucket, to build a 30-21 lead with 5:26 left.
The Eagles didn’t lie down though. Harris and Mossong traded buckets to make it a 32-23 EKU lead, and then Bozeman knocked down a triple and a jumper to pull MSU to within 32-28. Bozeman added a pair of free throws with 47 ticks remaining to get the Eagles back to within two at 34-32.
EKU shot 41 percent in the half compared to 36 percent from the Eagles. With 17 fouls combined the two teams shot 25 free throws in the opening period.
Brittany Coles led EKU with 18 points, while Jones notched 14. Reese Bass had 12.
The Eagles shot 52 percent in the second half and finished at 43 percent for the game.
Morehead State travels to Murray State on Thursday for a 6:15 p.m. EST time game against the Racers.
