Morehead, Ky.-- Led by
Landon Forbes with 22 and
Laura Toffali with 20, Morehead State earned head coach Ashton Feldhaus her first Division I win with an 84-68 victory at Bellarmine Friday night in Knights Hall.
Forbes shot 8-10 from the floor, including 3-5 from three-point range and hit all three of her free throw attempts. Toffali went 6-15 from the field and hit one of her four threes. She made seven of nine from the free throw line. Both players just missed double-doubles, sharing game honors with nine rebounds each.
Morehead State (1-1) had four players finish in double figures scoring.
Violet McNece finished with 13 and
Marie Sepp, hampered by early foul trouble, scored 12 points in just 16 minutes of play.
Bellarmine (1-1) had three players finished in double figures, led by Triniti Ralston with 18. Ava Smith added 14 and Rose Jamison finished with 12 points.
Morehead State opened with a 9-0 run to grab the early advantage; Bellarmine charged right back with a nine-point run to force the game's only tie. The Eagles responded with a 7-0 run to take a 16 9 lead. MSU led 21-12 at the end of the quarter, led by Toffali's nine points in the opening 10 minutes.
The Eagles got the first two baskets to begin the second frame, and Forbes' three-pointer at the 4:29 mark put MSU up 14. Bellarmine whittled away at the lead got as close at six with 14 seconds to go in the half. Two free throws by Forbes gave MSU a 40-32 lead at the intermission.
The Eagles came out of the break and extended the lead out to 15 by the media timeout. Bellarmine again chipped away the lead and trailed by seven 60-53 heading into the quarter break, having out-scored MSU 21-20 in the frame. Bellarmine forced 10 MSU turnovers.
Morehead State outscored the Knights 12-2 to start the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 72-55, and the lead was no lower than 11 the rest of the way.
The Eagles have a few days off then travel to Athens, Ohio, Thursday for a matinee at Ohio University. Tip time is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. The game can be seen on ESPN+.
NOTABLE
- Morehead State was 28-62 (45%) from the field and 8-32 (25%) from three-point range. Bellarmine made 21 of 63 (33%) from the floor and 2-23 (35%) triples.
- There were 51 fouls in the game. Morehead State shot 83% (20-24) from the charity stripe, while Bellarmine shot 82% (18-22) from the line.
- Morehead State won the battle on the boards 45-34. The Eagles outrebounded the Knights 14-4 in the third quarter, and 15-11 in the fourth quarter.
- Bellarmine committed 22 turnovers while Morehead State finished with 19, 10 of those in the third quarter. The Eagles had a 25-11 edge in points off turnovers.
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