Eagle Women's Furious Rally Comes Up Short as MSU Falls 63-58 to Eastern Kentucky

Morehead, Ky. -- Morehead State trailed by 20 points halfway through the second quarter, but the Eagles rallied and got to within one point with just over three minutes to play but the comeback came up just short as the Eagles fell to Eastern Kentucky 63-58 Thursday night in Johnson Arena.
 
Trailing 49-38 with 9:30 to play, the Eagles rallied, outscoring the Colonels 13-6 to cut the EKU to 55-51, capped by Heidi Smith's driving layup at the 5:31 mark. Out of the media timeout, Smith made two free throws to cut the lead to two: Millie Pearson made one of two free throws to trim the EKU lead to 54-54 with 3:35 to play.
 
Eastern Kentucky (1-1) stretched the lead back out to five as the teams traded buckets; Kensley Feltner cut the lead to three at 61-58 with 15 seconds left. After an EKU time out, Kamora Morgan stole the ensuing inbounds pass giving MSU the ball with 13 seconds to go. Morehead State got two shots off but could not score.  
 
Morehead State (0-2) was led by Feltner, who posted a new career-high 22 points and Heidi Smith, who posted her first career double-double with career highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Feltner hit 6 13 from floor, including 3-7 from three-point range, and seven of her eight free throws.
 
Smith spearheaded the Eagle rally in the fourth quarter, scoring nine of her 18 points in the final frame. She hit 7-9 from the free throw line.

Eastern Kentucky had three players in double figures, led by Kirsten Lewis-Williams with 18 points. Kenleigh Woods finished with 17 and Liz Freihofer finished with 12.
 
Morehead State jumped out to an early lead and led 10-5 heading into the first quarter media timeout at 4:38. Coming out of the media, the Colonels outscored the Eagles 16-1 to lead 21-11 after the first 10 minutes.
 
Eastern Kentucky (1-1) opened the second quarter with a 13-0 run to stretch the lead to 20 at 34-14 with 5:27 to play in the half. The Eagles chipped away and got to within 10 at 35-25 on a Millie Pearson layup with 1:52 remaining. EKU got a couple of baskets to take a 39-25 lead into the intermission.  
 
Eastern Kentucky's shooting went cold out of the half: the Colonels hit just 3-18 from the floor, including 0-6 from three-point range. Morehead State outscored the Colonels 13-8 in the quarter. The Colonels hit 4-15 (27%) from field in the final quarter while the Eagles made 5-11 (45%) in the final 10 minutes.

Morehead State returns to action on Monday, November 9 when the Eagles travel to Nashville to face off with 8th-ranked Vanderbilt. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The game can be heard on the Eagle Sports Network and can be seen on the SEC+ Network.

 
NOTABLE

• Morehead State finished the game hitting 17-52 (33%) from the floor and 6-21 (29%) from three-point range. MSU went 18-25 (72%) from the free throw line. EKU shot 21-67 (31%) from the floor and 6-27 (22%) from three-point range. The Colonels were 15-22 (68%) from the free throw line.
• The Eagles committed 24 turnovers to 13 for EKU. The Colonels held a 20-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Morehead State won the rebounding battle 45-38. Along with Heidi Smith's 10 boards, Lanae Riley finished with nine.
• EKU had a 9-7 edge in blocked shots. Millie Pearson notched a game-high three.