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MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State senior guards Courtney Lumpkin and Linda Dixon each scored 24 points Wednesday night, but Mallory Schwab scored a game-high 26 points off the bench, and visiting Murray State rallied from as many as 18 points behind to defeat the host Eagles 81-78 at Johnson Arena.
Schwab played 27 minutes and was 10-of-14 from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Mariah Robinson notched 25 points and six rebounds and scored her 1,000 career point. After taking a substantial first-half lead, the Eagles saw Murray State outscore them 50-35 in the second half.
The Eagles dropped their fourth consecutive game to fall to 7-14 and 4-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while the Racers moved above .500 in the league at 5-4 and improved to 9-13 overall. Murray State also halted a five-game losing streak to Morehead State.
Lumpkin moved into 14th in career scoring at MSU, passing the 1,300-point plateau and moving ahead of Kelly Stamper.
The Eagles used a 15-2 first-half run to bolt out to a 23-6 lead with 12:30 remaining and led by 18 (43-25) at the 1:11 mark before Murray State began to trim the advantage. The Racers slashed the Eagle lead to 43-31 at the break and scored the first three of the second half to cut it under double digits at 43-34.
Morehead State pushed its lead back to 11 (47-36 at 17:31), but the Racers outscored the Eagles 24-11 over the next six minutes and grabbed their first lead at 60-59 following a Robinson jumper. The lead changed sides five times before Robinson drained a pair of free throws at the 1:50 mark to give Murray State at 77-75 advantage it never relinquished.
Dixon knocked down her sixth three-pointer of the night to cut it back to 79-78 with 60 ticks left, but Lumpkin’s potential game-winner was blocked by Schwab with 7.9 seconds remaining.
Kayla Lowe also reached double figures for the visitors with 12 points.
Freshman Almesha Jones netted a career-high 14 points off the bench for the Eagles, while junior Ashar Harris, the nation’s leading rebounder, grabbed a game-high 16 boards. It marked her fourth straight contest with at least 16 rebounds. The Eagles out-rebounded the Racers by one, 39-38.
After being limited to 30 percent shooting in the opening half, the Racers responded by nailing 57 percent (17-of-30) of their attempts in the second stanza. The Eagles hit 50 percent (12-of-24) in the final half and were 11-of-29 from three-point range. The Eagles also hit 15 of their 17 free throws, led by Lumpkin who was 7-of-8 at the line. She is now 25-of-26 at the free throw stripe in the last three outings.
Morehead State begins a three-game OVC road swing Saturday at league-leader Eastern Illinois. Tipoff at Lantz Arena is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET.
