MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Morehead State women's basketball program will look to stay in the upper echelon of the Ohio Valley Conference Saturday when Tennessee State visits Johnson Arena. The contest, the first in a doubleheader with the Eagle men playing Belmont afterwards, is set to begin at 5:15 p.m. ET.
Fans are encouraged to wear black for the Blackout night. Morehead State (11-12, 7-3 OVC) is in third place in the standings, just two games behind SIU Edwardsville. Tennessee State is a game behind MSU at 6-4 OVC-wise and 9-12 overall.
Tickets are available
here. Parking is $5.
Ways to follow the game:LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE AUDIO (mobile) | LIVE STATS | TWITTERAll Morehead State contests are broadcast on the Eagle Sports Radio Network with Jason Blanton calling the action. The game can be heard on the airwaves on the flagship station, WIVY-96.3 FM in Morehead. Audio will also be available on MSUEagles.com (computers), m.Morehead.EZStream.com (mobile devices) and the Eagle Empire app. Live stats and live video links are also available right here on MSUEagles.com (the game will be live on the OVC Digital Network), and periodic updates will also be on Twitter and Facebook.
Releases and pre-game information:MOREHEAD STATE (PDF) | TENNESSEE STATE (PDF) | OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCEGame notes heading into the contest:
The Series
• Morehead State leads 30-21.
• Tennessee State has won five straight in the series with MSU's last win coming on Jan. 27, 2011. Former Eagle Courtney Lumpkin hit a last-second layup that night to claim an 84-82 win at home.
Records Are Made to Be Broken
• Senior guard Almesha Jones set the Morehead State career assist record on Jan. 24 at Jacksonville State. She broke Irene (Moore) Strong's mark of 499, held since 1982.
• Jones now ranks 10th in OVC history with 527 assists, needing just seven more to move to ninth.
• Jones needs only 10 more assists to set the MSU single-season mark, held by Teresa Ruby with 194 in 1984-85.
Keeping Up With the Joneses
• Almesha Jones is the 22nd member of Morehead State's 1,000-point club. She now has 1,318 points in 110 career games and is ranked 14th in scoring at MSU.
• Jones ranks first in the nation in total assists (184) and is second in assists per game (8.0). She has six double-digit assist games.
• Jones was recently named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List, honoring the nation's top Division I point guard.
First-Year Frenzy
• Freshman forward Eriel McKee has scored in double figures in 17 of the 20 collegiate games she's appeared in.
• McKee leads the conference in rebounding (10.2) in contests against other league opponents. She ranks third in rebounding in all games (9.4).
• In the last two games, McKee has grabbed 30 rebounds, including 24 on the defensive end.
Steele The One
• Shay Steele leads the OVC in blocked shots (44). She is now eighth in career blocks (71) at Morehead State.
• Steele has four 20-point games this year.
• She has scored in double figures in nine of the last 12 games.
The Last Three Have Been Good
• In the last three games, all wins, MSU outscored its foes 68.7-55.7. Tennessee Tech, Eastern Kentucky and Belmont were held to a combined 33 percent (68-of-204) accuracy from the field.
Pounding the Paint
• After averaging only 21 points in the paint last year, MSU averages 35.7 this year.
• In the last four games, the Eagles averaged 40 points in the lane.
