MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State's women's basketball squad hosts new Ohio Valley Conference member Belmont in a 6 p.m. ET contest Monday at Johnson Arena. It's family fun night with all tickets being half-price.
The Eagles (7-14/3-4 OVC) will look to shake off the rust of a 68-56 setback to Tennessee State at home Saturday. The Eagles managed just 29 percent shooting in the second half as they fell behind. Belmont (12-9/7-2 OVC) has been a surprise front-runner, leading the league's East division. The Bruins dropped a 55-51 contest at Eastern Kentucky Saturday.
Following Monday's game, MSU is back on the road next week. The Eagles face winless Jacksonville State on Saturday and then face Belmont right away again in Nashville on Monday.
Ways to follow the game:
LIVE AUDIO (cpu) | LIVE AUDIO (mobile) | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | TWITTER
The game will be webcast free of charge on the OVC Digital Network. It will also be broadcast on WIVY-96.3 FM in Morehead, MSUEagles.com (computers) and m.Morehead.EZStream.com (mobile devices) with Jason Blanton calling the action. The pre-game show begins 15 minutes prior to the scheduled tipoff time. Twitter updates are loaded throughout the game @MSUATHLETICS.
Releases and pre-game information:
MOREHEAD STATE (PDF) | OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE STATS (HTML)
Game notes heading into the contest:
Bring on the Bruins
MSU’s current group of freshmen were just three or four years old the last time MSU met Belmont in 1999. The teams played a home-and-home series back in 1976-77 and 1977-78 and also again in 1997-98 and 1998-99 and each team has won twice in the series.
Live by the Three
The Eagles hit 7.1 triples per game to rank second in the OVC. MSU averages 24.2 three-point attempts per game to rank second in the league behind only UT Martin.
One For the Record Books
Junior guard Terrice Robinson scored 30 points at EKU on Jan. 12, and sophomore guard Almesha Jones registered 30 against SIUE on Jan. 7. According to the MSU record book, it’s the first time in school history that different players have scored 30 points in back-to-back games.
That 70s Show
MSU is averaging 74 points per game in its three OVC wins, reaching the 70-point plateau all three times. In its three OVC losses, however, the Eagles have scored in the 50s, averaging just 55.4 per contest.
Miss Robinson
Terrice Robinson leads MSU and ranks four in the OVC in scoring at 17.3 points per game. She has reached double figures in 18 of the Eagles’ 21 games. Robinson has scored 20 or more points six times and 30 or more twice. She has led the team in the point column 14 times. In OVC games, Robinson averages 19.7 points.
The Big 400
Terrice Robinson is just 37 points shy of the 400-point plateau this season. Only 12 other players in the 41-year history of the program have ever registered 400 or more points in a season.
Keeping Up With the Jones
Sophomore guard Almesha Jones has been a jack-of-all-trades player for MSU this season. She ranks second in scoring (11.3) but leads MSU in assists (90) and steals (59).
League-Leader
Almesha Jones leads the OVC in assists per game (5.9) in league games.
Dynamic Duo
Terrice Robinson and Almesha Jones combine for 52.2 percent of MSU’s total scoring per game, and that ranks as the second-best two-player combo in the OVC. Only UT Martin’s Heather Butler and Jasmine Newsome (60 percent of their team’s total) rank higher
.
Picking Up Her Production
Sophomore forward Casey Ryans has upped her production to 7.9 points and rebounds against OVC competition. She had her first career double-double (11 pts, 10 rbs) against Eastern Kentucky.
Turning It Around
Junior Allie Turner has scored in double figures in four straight games and is shooting 46 percent (13-of-24) from three-point range in that span.
We Want Her at the Line
Allie Turner is an 83 percent (83-of-100) career free throw shooter.
