MSU Women Dominate Second Half, Top Tennessee State 68-51

Morehead, Ky.-- The Morehead State women's basketball team used a stifling defense to hold Tennessee State to just 17 second-half points and rolled past the Tigers 68-51 Saturday afternoon in Johnson Arena. 

Morehead State (6-6, 1-1) placed four players in double figures, led by Chrishawn Coleman and Michelle Ugwah with 16 points apiece. Coleman's 16 points tied her career high. She shot 12-13 from the free throw line, and picked up two blocked shots, which tied her career high in a game  

Ugwah had her second brush with her first career double-double with nine rebounds to go with her career-high 16 points. The redshirt freshman went 6-9 from the floor and 4-5 from the free throw line.  

Katie Dike finished with 12 points, went 6-7 from the field and pulled down seven rebounds. She also collected two steals and had a blocked shot.  

Sophomore Kate Novik notched her third career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 10 assists.  

Morehead State led the Tigers 19-13 after the first ten minutes, led by Michelle Ugwah's eight points.  

Tennessee State (4-8, 0-2) rebounded in the second period, sparked by Saniah Parker with eight points and four rebounds, and outscored MSU 21-10 taking a 34-29 lead in the half. Parker led the Tigers with 16 points; she was the only player in double figures for her team. TSU forced six Eagle turnovers in the period and held MSU to 4-16 shooting from the floor. 

Out of the half, the teams traded baskets and a Lyric Cole layup at the 5:52 mark extended the TSU lead to 42-35. Morehead State closed out the quarter with a 9-0 run, punctuated by a Novik layup with 15 seconds left in the period to give the Eagles the lead for good at 44-42. 

Morehead State continued their tenacious defense and combined timely free throw shooting to outscore the visitors 24-9 in the final frame. The Eagles held the Tigers to just 2-12 (17%) shooting from the floor, and they hit 12 of their 15 free throw attempts in the quarter. Coleman hit seven of eight from the line in the frame. 

After some time off for Christmas break, the Eagles return to play on New Year's Eve when they travel to Southern Indiana. 

BY THE NUMBERS 

• Morehead State won the rebounding battle 45-30. They pulled down 17 offensive rebounds, leading to a 19-7 advantage in second-chance points.  

• Morehead State shot 18-24 (75%) from the free throw line, the fifth straight game they have shot better than 70% from the charity stripe. 

• Coleman has now scored in double figures in four of the last five games. She has averaged 12.6 points per game in that span.
  In those last four games, she has shot 24-27 (88.9%) from the free throw line. 

• MSU forced 19 TSU turnovers while committing 15. They held a 16-10 edge in points off turnovers.  

• While MSU struggled again from three-point range (0-8), they dominated the Tigers 50-18 in points in the paint.