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MOREHEAD, Ky. – Following a two-and-a-half week layoff, Morehead State women's basketball is set to continue its 2020-21 slate with an in-state rivalry matchup to begin the Ohio Valley Conference portion of the team's schedule.

Morehead State welcomes Eastern Kentucky into Johnson Arena Friday evening for the first of two meetings between the clubs this season. The meeting also marks the first game for both clubs since seeing last Saturday's scheduled meeting postponed due to NCAA Covid-19 testing protocols and subsequent contact tracing.

The Eagles enter Friday's game sporting an OVC Newcomer of the Week as redshirt sophomore Gabby Crawford claimed the season's first honor (week of Dec. 1) following her career-high 17 points and 12 rebound double-double versus Dayton in the season opener.

Crawford wasn't the only Eagle to reach double-figures in the contest as sophomore Lai'Janique Perry-Ellis led all Morehead State scorers with 19 points while sophomore Ariel Kirkwood nearly reached double-digits, posting nine points along with a team-high five blocks.

Eastern Kentucky enters the rivalry game after opening the season with a pair of matchups with top-25 opponents dropping meetings with No. 15 Indiana and No. 5 Louisville. Freshman Amerah Steele leads the Colonels in scoring, averaging 12.0 points per game while fellow freshman Corriana Evans leads the team in rebounding at 5.5 boards per contest.

Friday's game will be streamed on ESPN+ while live audio will also be available through MSUEagles.com and WIVY-96.3 FM.

SCHEDULE UPDATE
Morehead State has released schedule updates for two previously postponed games. The rescheduled dates and tip times are below.

    December 14, 2020, at Eastern Kentucky (6:00 p.m. ET)
    December 15, 2020, vs. Transylvania (7:00 p.m.)

INSIDE THE SERIES
Records: Morehead State (0-1; 0-0) | Eastern Kentucky (0-2; 0-0)
Series: Eastern Kentucky leads 54-41
Last Five Meetings: Feb. 29, 2020 (EKU won 64-58) | Feb. 13, 2020 (EKU won 68-47) | March 2, 2019 (MOR won 64-61) | Feb. 16, 2019 (MOR won 68-52) | Feb. 24, 2018 (MOR won 62-51)

NOTABLE
Behind her first career double-double in her Eagle debut which featured a career-high 17 points and a career-best 12 rebounds, redshirt sophomore Gabby Crawford earned Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week following the season's opening week (Dec. 1).

Crawford's selection as OVC Newcomer of the Week was a unanimous selection and gave Morehead State consecutive OVC Newcomer of the Week selections after senior Jazzmyn Elston captured the final OVC Newcomer of the Week nod during the 2019-20 regular season.

In addition to being her first career double-double, Crawford's double-double versus Dayton also marked the first for an Eagle in their debut since Tierra McGowan dropped 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds versus Sacramento State to open the 2017-18 season.

After grabbing 12 boards in the season opener against Dayton, Crawford ranks 11th in the NCAA in rebounds per game and ranking second in the OVC in the category. With five of her rebounds coming on the offensive glass, she ranks 6th in the country and second in the league in offensive rebounds per game.

Joining Crawford in double-figures for Morehead State was sophomore Lai'Janique Perry-Ellis who led all Eagle scorers with 19 points. Their 17 and 19 points, respectively, against Dayton, were the most by a player in their debut since Aliyah Jeune scored 28 against North Carolina A&T to open the 2018-19 season.

Picking up where she left off last season, sophomore Ariel Kirkwood led both sides against Dayton by recording five of Morehead State's nine total blocks. At five blocks per game, Kirkwood ranks first in the NCAA in blocked shots per game while her five total blocks rank 72nd in the country.

With five blocks in the season opener, Kirkwood now ranks sixth in Morehead State history in career blocks with 87. Against Dayton, she passed Melissa Ireton and Eriel McKee to pick up a pair of spots on the list. Next up on the list is Shelly Johnson who blocked 158 shots from 2002-06.

Morehead State's nine total blocks against Dayton are tied for the most by an OVC team in a game this season with the team's nine blocked shots per game ranking third in the NCAA. Overall, the Eagles' nine total blocks rank fourth in the OVC.

In its season opener, Morehead State found its way to the line for 30 free throw attempts which ties for the most in a game in the OVC this season. Last season, the Eagles ranked second in the OVC in total free throw attempts, reaching the charity stripe 30 or more times on four occasions.

Crawford reached the line 13 times for Morehead State against Dayton, recording the most free throw attempts in a game for an Eagle since Kirkwood went to the line 15 times against Southeast Missouri last season with both totals marking the most for an Eagle player in a game since 2014-15.

In Morehead State's season opener, seven Eagles made their Morehead State debut as redshirt sophomore Lauren Carter, freshman Morgan DeFoor, redshirt senior Tyler Moore, junior Laurie Thomas, and redshirt sophomore Darryn Zeigler joined Crawford and Perry-Ellis as players making their Eagle debut.

Head coach Greg Todd enters Saturday's game against Eastern Kentucky seeking two victories to join former Eagle head coaches Mickey Wells (156) and Loretta Marlow (110) as the only coaches in program history with 100 or more victories at Morehead State.

In the previous six seasons under Todd, Morehead State has been the top blocking team in the OVC, finishing lower than the league's leader in both total blocks and blocks per game one apiece, in 2014-15 and 2017-18, respectively.

Also in the same span, Morehead State is the only OVC program to exceed 100 total blocks each season. Under Todd, the Eagles have rejected 1,062 shots in 188 games, averaging 5.7 blocks per game in the Gree Todd-era.