GAME NOTES | SCHEDULE PAGE (LINKS TO LIVE VIDEO, LIVE AUDIO AND LIVE STATS)
Morehead, Ky. -- The Morehead State women's basketball returns to action Thursday when they travel to Louisville to take on the Cardinals. The game will be aired on the Eagle Sports Network (flagship WIVY- 96.3 FM) with Tom Lewis and Wes Holland on the call. The game can be seen on ACCN+. Tipoff at the KFC Yum! Center is set for 7:00 p.m. ET.
Sunday, Morehead State fell to Lipscomb 71-53. A cold streak from the floor stunted the Eagles' chances. MSU went the last 4:12 of the second quarter without a field goal and shot just 20% from the field in the third quarter. Overall, Morehead State bounced back to shoot 34% from the floor for the game. Sophomore
Kate Novik recorded her second career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead MSU. Senior
Aileen Marquez added 15 for the Eagles.
Louisville returns home after a 71-61 overtime loss to Kentucky in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington Saturday. Cold shooting down the stretch hampered the Cardinals. Merissah Russell's layup with 26 second left ended a three-minute Louisville scoring drought and forced the overtime at 61-61. The overtime period was a stalemate for the first four minutes, with Kentucky pulling away and scoring all 10 points in the extra frame in the final minute. Louisville failed to score in the overtime period.
Freshmen led the Cards in the scoring column, with Imari Berry with 14 with points and Tajianna Roberts chipping in 12 for Louisville.
RECORDS
Morehead State: 1-3
Louisville:2-2
THE SERIES
Record vs. Louisville: 13-19
Last Meeting: 12/13//23, MSU lost 74-48
First Meeting: 1970-71 season, MSU lost 57-30
Streak: Louisville, 4 games
NOTABLE
• Morehead State's 55 steals (13.8 per game) ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference behind Southern Indiana (14.2 per game). The Eagles average of 13.8 steals per game ranks tied for 20th nationally in NCAA Division I. With her five steals Sunday against Lipscomb, sophomore guard
Kate Novik has 17 through the first four games of the season which ranks second in the OVC. She is tied for fifth nationally in that statistical category.
• Aside from the number of steals, Novik also leads the Eagles in scoring (16.8 PPG, 3rd in OVC), rebounds (8.8 RPG, 3rd in OVC),assists (19, T-1st in OVC) and blocks (5, T-4th in OVC). She is second on the team in field goal percentage, shooting 48% from the floor (4th in OVC).
• Novik has also spent a lot of time at the free throw line: her 26 free throw attempts represent 38% of Morehead State's total attempts at the charity stripe. She has hit 20 of those tries for a 77% accuracy rate.
•
Aileen Marquez made an instant splash in her Morehead State debut at New Mexico on November 7th. She poured in 21 points on 8-13 shooting from the floor. Behind the arc, Marquez went 5-9. Sunday against Lipscomb, she tallied 15 points on 6-11 shooting from the field including 3-8 from three-point range and went 2-2 from the free throw line. On the season, she is 9-22 from long distance (40.9%, 3rd in OVC). Her .516 from the floor also ranks 3rd in the OVC.
• The homecoming for
Harley Paynter is off to a good start. The senior who graduated from just up the road at Boyd County High School has scored in double figures in three of the first four games, averaging 8.8 points per game. A prolific scorer in high school, she is Boyd County's second-leading scorer all-time with 2,489 points. She also holds her school's record with 994 career rebounds.
•
Michelle Ugwah represented her home country of Ireland in the 2024 FIBA U-20 Women's EuroBasket. She averaged 8.9 points and 7.6 rebounds for the tournament. Ugwah had a big game against Croatia, notching a double-double with 18 points and 18 rebounds.
•
Kate Novik is the lone returner from last season's team to see action.
Michelle Ugwah,
Alyssa Berry and
Marie Perdew were all on the roster but were unavailable due to injuries. Novik averaged 11.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. She played in all 30 games last season, making 25 starts. She was named to the Second Team All-OVC.
• This year's Morehead State roster again features an international flair. The countries of Belarus (
Kate Novik), Russia (Veronka Korchagina and Assistant Coach Vladimir Shtam), Ukraine (
Katie Dike), Canada (
Maia Rosarion) and Ireland (
Michelle Ugwah) are all represented.
• Freshman
Chrishawn Coleman has gotten off to a promising start to her collegiate career. She is averaging 7.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. In her debut in an Eagle uniform, she scored 16 points, pulled down four rebounds and collected four steals. Her eight steals on the season is tied with Dike for the second-highest total on the team.
• Interim Head Coach
Chris Palmer is a graduate of Emmanuel; the same school that Morehead State Men"s Head Coach Jonathan Mattox attended.
