Morehead, Ky.-- The Morehead State women's basketball team led for the first 38:51 but fell to Little Rock 66-63 Saturday in Johnson Arena.
Morehead State (8-16/3-11 OVC) raced out to a 14-0 run to start the game; the first points for Little Rock (12-11/9-4 OVC) came from a Sug Williams layup off a fast break with 2:41 to go in the quarter.
Morehead State shot six of 10 from the floor in the opening quarter, while Little Rock went just one for 13. While both teams had seven turnovers in the first quarter, Morehead State held a 9-2 advantage in points off turnovers. The Eagles went to the quarter break leading 17-3.
Little Rock was able to take the lid off the basket in the second quarter, shooting 36% in the second ten minutes, while the Eagles cooled off, shooting 30% for the period. The Eagles built their lead up to 19 with 2:47 to go, but the Trojans answered with a 5-2 run and Morehead State went into the intermission leading 31-18.
The teams played evenly out of the intermission, Little Rock hit 63% from the field in the quarter, while Morehead State shot 54%. Little Rock cut the Eagles' lead to eight twice, before MSU stretched the lead to 50-37 heading to the final period.
Little Rock's hot shooting continued in the fourth quarter. The Trojans shot 12-18 (67%) in the final frame, led by Jordan Holman who scored 12 of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles led by 12 with 5:55 to go at 57-45. The Trojans went on a 7-0 to cut the lead to 57-52 with 3:23 to play. A Holman runner in the paint gave Little Rock their first lead of the game 62-61 with 43 seconds to play.
A pair of Kuryn Brunson free throws at 00:26 put Morehead State back on top 63-62. The Trojans responded with an Emerald Parker layup to go back on top 64-63. MSU responded on the other end with Kalise Hill shaking loose for a driving layup that missed. Harley Paynter fouled Jayla Brooks to stop the clock with 14 seconds left.
The Trojans closed the game out hitting two of four free throws. Kalise Hill had a three-pointer at :03 to wouldn't go.
Morehead State was led by Kate Novik with 16 points, making all eight of her free throw attempts. Paynter added 15 for MSU.
Faith Lee finished with 14 for Little Rock. Emerald Parker added 11.
BY THE NUMBERS
