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MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State women's basketball team scored 52 second-half points Monday against visiting Austin Peay, but the Lady Govs opened up as much as a 19-point lead in the final half, scoring 50 in that period, and held on to defeat the Eagles 83-75 at Johnson Arena.
Austin Peay put the kibosh on its 10-game losing streak and improved to 4-13 overall and 1-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference. MSU dropped its second straight OVC home contest and dipped to 8-9 overall and 2-2 in the league.
"The only thing we need to take from this game is that if we play like we did in the final five minutes, we will be all right," Head Coach Tom Hodges said. "If we don't, this will happen over and over again. Also when you don't make free throws and easy layups, it takes the air out of the balloon. That happened to us tonight. We did play hard for the final five minutes."
The Lady Govs led 64-47 with 5:21 remaining in the contest, but the Eagles outscored their foes 26-14 and trimmed the margin to just 78-73 at the 33-second mark. APSU drained five free throws in the last 30 seconds.
After building a 10-point halftime cushion (33-23), Austin Peay pushed its advantage to 58-39 at the 8:02 mark.
Jennifer Nwokocha tallied a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) to pace APSU. She was one of five in double figures. Tiasha Gray scored a team-high 19 off the bench, Kristen Stainback totaled 17, Beth Rates tossed in 13, and Nicole Olszewski notched 11 points and seven assists. Gray swiped a game-best six steals.
Junior guard Almesha Jones was the catalyst in MSU's comeback bid. She scored a season-high 20 points off the bench, including 17 in the second half. The OVC's steal leader had five takeaways and also dished out four assists and grabbed six rebounds.
Senior guard Terrice Robinson registered 15 points, her 14th double-figure effort this year. She also handed off a team-best eight assists. The Eagles had 19 assists off their 27 field goals. Freshman guard Shiloh Murphy notched a career-best 11 points, including a trio of three-pointers. Freshman forward Shay Steele had 10 points, and junior forward Mackenzie Arledge totaled nine points and eight rebounds.
Austin Peay held a 49-37 rebounding edge. MSU forced 20 APSU mistakes, marking MSU's third straight game forcing 20 or more opponent turnovers. The Lady Govs also out-scored MSU 25-12 at the free throw line and shot 48 percent. APSU nailed 57 percent (16-of-28) in the final half.
Morehead State hosts UT Martin on Saturday. Following the men's game at 2 p.m. ET, the Eagles and Skyhawks will tip off at approximately 4:15 p.m.
