GAME NOTES | SCHEDULE PAGE (LINKS TO LIVE VIDEO, LIVE AUDIO AND LIVE STATS)
Morehead, Ky. -- The Morehead State women's basketball team embarks on a trip to the southwest for a pair of road games. The Eagles kick off the western swing in Albuquerque, N.M., to take on -the Lobos of New Mexico.The game can be seen on the Mountain West Network and on the Eagle Sports Network with Tom Lewis and Wes Holland on the call.
Morehead State kicked off the season Monday night with a 92-80 win over D-III Asbury in Johnson Arena.Morehead State placed five players in double figures in the game.
New Mexico was upended by Northern Arizona 80-78 on a shot at the final buzzer in their season opener on Monday. The Lobos held the lead for over 34 minutes in the game. Northern Arizona outscored New Mexico 31-19 in the fourth quarter. New Mexico was led in scoring by sophomore guard Destinee Hicks with 21 points.
RECORDS
MSU: 1-0 | UNM 0-1
THE SERIES
Record vs. New Mexico: 0-1
Previous Meeting: 11/25/2011 MSU lost 69-52
NOTABLE
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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.
• In the season opener on Monday, Novik stuffed the stat sheet. She scored a career-high 25 points. She was (9-13) from the floor, (1-2) from three-point range and (6-7) from the free-throw line. She also hauled down seven rebounds, dished out 8 assists and swiped a career-high seven steals.
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Kuryn Brunson posted a double-double in her debut with Morehead State Monday night. She tossed in 11 points and collected 10 rebounds.
• Morehead State had five players score in double figures Monday night. Joining Novik and Brunson were
Chrishawn Coleman with 16, and
Michelle Ugwah and
Harley Paynter with 13 apiece.
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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.
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Harley Paynter spent her first three years of college playing at OVC member Tennessee Tech. She was a standout at Boyd County (Ky.) High School. A Kentucky All-State selection three times, Paynter is Boyd County's second-leading scorer all-time with 2,489 points. She holds the school record with 994 career rebounds.
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Aileen Marquez played her first three seasons at Clarendon (Tex.) College, where whe played and started in 86 games. She averaged 16.9 points per game. She shot 46.3% from three-point range over her three years there and 85% from the free throw line. She spent last season at Florida International.
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Celeste Reed was named Tennessee Class 3A Miss Basketball last season. She amassed 1,476 career points and 1,004 career rebounds. Reed played over three and a half minutes Monday night, collecting two rebounds.
• This year's Morehead State roster again features an international flair. The countries of Belarus (Katie Novik), Russia (Veronka Korchagina), Ukraine (
Katie Dike), Canada (
Maia Rosarion) and Ireland (
Michelle Ugwah) are all represented.
• New Mexico Head Coach Mike Bradbury was Morehead State's bench boss for three seasons, from 2007 to 2010. His teams went (50-44) and (34-22) in Ohio Valley Conference play. Bradbury left Morehead State for Wright State, where on December 30, 2011, his Wright State team defeated Morehead State 53-46, in Dayton.
• Coach
Chris Palmer is a graduate of Emmanuel; the same school that Morehead State Men"s Head Coach Jonathan Mattox attended.
•
Marie Perdew's father, J.R. Perdew, works on the minor league staff of the Chicago White Sox as a Pitching Advisor.
