Morehead, Ky. -- Morehead State wrapped up their four-game road swing to begin the 2025-26 campaign with a 96-49 loss at 21
st-ranked Louisville Wednesday night in the Yum! Center in Louisville.
Morehead State (1-3) had two players finish in double figures:
Violet McNece finished with 12 and
Marie Sepp added 10 to pace the Eagles. McNece paced Morehead State with seven rebounds.
Louisville (4-1) placed seven players in double figures. The Cards were led in scoring by a quartet of players with 13: Raegan Bender, Imari Berry, Tajianna Roberts and Laura Ziegler. Anaya Hardy finished with 12 points and posted a double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds. Elif Istanbulluogiu and Reyna Scott finished with 11 points apiece.
Louisville used two long runs in the first quarter to push out their advantage and led 29-10 after the first ten minutes. The Cardinals shot 71% (12-17) from the floor in the opening frame, while MSU shot just 4-14 (29%) from the field.
The Cardinals continued their good shooting in the second quarter, hitting 6-13 (46%) from the floor, and out-scored the Eagles 21-12, taking a 50-22 lead into the intermission. Louisville shot 18-30 from the floor in the first half. Morehead State ended up the first 20 minutes shooting 8-25 (32%) from the floor. Â
Louisville outscored the Eagles 35-17 in the third quarter, shooting 67% from the floor. Louisville outscored MSU 11-10 in the final ten minutes.
Morehead State's home opener is Saturday, when the Eagles host USC-Upstate in Johnson Arena. The game is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. MSU Athletics officials have put out notice that the tip-time may be adjusted to noon Saturday. USC-Upstate and Marshall will play in Johnson Arena Friday at noon as part of a multi-team event hosted by Morehead State.
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- Louisville shot the ball very well: the Cards finished 33-61 (54%) from the floor, including 10-26 (39%) from three-point range. U of L went 20-23 (87%) from the free-throw line. MSU shot 18-51 (35%) from the floor and 7-27 (26%) from three-point range. The Eagles were just 6-17 (35%) from the charity stripe.
- Morehead State was out-rebounded by the longer Louisville team 42-24. U of L recorded a 9-2 edge in second-chance points.
- Morehead State committed 18 turnovers to 11 for Louisville. The Cardinals finished with a 31-4 advantage in points off turnovers.