Morehead, Ky.—The Morehead State women's basketball team mounted a furious comeback in the second half, but came up short to Lindenwood 68-61 Thursday night in St. Charles, Mo.
Trailing 38-23 at the half, Morehead State (8-17/ 3-12 OVC) stormed out of the intermission, using a 14-0 run capped by a
Katie Dike jumper from close range to pull within one at 40-39 with 2:03 to go in the period.
Lindenwood (17-7/ 13-2 OVC) went through a 7:25 scoring drought, ended by a Mya Skoff transition three-pointer to extend the Lindenwood lead to 43-39. In the quarter, the Eagles outscored the Lions 18-7 and trailed 45-41 going into the final frame.
The fourth quarter was played evenly, and Morehead State could get no closer than four. The Lions sizzled the nets from the floor, hitting nine of their 12 attempts, after going two of 13 in the third quarter.
The Eagles were led in scoring by redshirt freshman
Michelle Ugwah, who posted a career-high 20 points.
Kate Novik finished with 13 and
Harley Paynter added 12, ten in the first quarter. Novik and Paynter also led MSU with seven rebounds apiece.
Lindenwood scorched the nets in the opening period, shooting seven of 10 from the floor and two of three from three-point range. The Lions closed out the quarter with a 10-0 run and led MSU 24-13.
Morehead State responded with an 8-0 run to open the period capped by a Paynter floater at the 6:08 mark to cut the lead to 24-21. Lindenwood responded by outscoring the Eagles 14-2 to take a 38-23 lead into the half.
Lindenwood was led by Mya Skoff, who tied her career-high with 20 points, matching the total she scored at Morehead State in the teams' earlier game January 16. Justis Odom and Brooke Coffey added 11 apiece. Odom also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
Morehead State will wrap up their brief road trip Saturday in Macomb, Ill., to square off against Western Illinois.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Free throw shooting was key in the game. Morehead State was just 4-11 (36%) from the line, while the Lions shot 18-24 (75%) from the charity stripe.
- Morehead State shot 27-66 (41%) from the floor. The Eagles went 3-15 (20%) from three-point range. Lindenwood shot 22-48 (46%) and 6-17 (35%) from long range.
- Morehead State won the battle of the boards 35-34. The Eagles had a 11-5 edge on the offensive glass, leading to an 8-0 edge in second-chance points.
- Morehead State was whistled for 28 fouls. Lindenwood committed 13.
- Lindenwood committed 21 turnovers to 16 for the Eagles. The Lions held an 18-14 edge in points off turnovers.
- Led by Ugwah, MSU held a 38-30 advantage in points in the paint.
