The Morehead State women's basketball team outscored host East Tennessee State 19-11 over the final nine minutes to defeat the Buccaneers 77-69 Thursday (Nov. 21) at Freedom Hall Civic Center.
It was MSU's (4-2) first victory over ETSU (1-2) since the 1989-90 season. It also marked the first time the Eagles have won their first three road games to begin a season since 1981-82. MSU connected on a season-high 11 three-pointers.
"We played with poise and maturity down the stretch, and we didn't get rattled," Head Coach Tom Hodges said. "That was as complete as we have played in a couple of years."
Senior guard Terrice Robinson led all scorers with 20 points. Senior guards Shanice Parker and Almesha Jones had 14 points apiece. Chandler Christopher led ETSU with 15.
The Eagles led for all but 33 seconds of the opening half and held eight-point leads on two occasions, including an 8-0 flurry to start the contest following a pair of free throws by Robinson.
ETSU closed out the last 1:34 of the half with a 5-0 spurt to cut the MSU lead to 37-34. Robinson led all scorers with 10 first-half points, while Christopher paced ETSU with nine in the first half.
The Buccaneers finished 12-of-22 (54.5 percent) from the floor in the opening-half, including 4-of-5 from three-point range while MSU shot 13-of-30 (43.3) overall and 6-of-15 (40.0 percent) from long-range. MSU scored 13 points off 10 first-half turnovers, while committing just one. The Eagles held ETSU to just field goals in the final 9:24.
MSU finished the game 25-of-56 (44.6 percent) from the floor, including 11-of-25 from three-point range. ETSU went 27-of-54 overall for 50 percent MSU committed a season-low seven turnovers, while forcing 16 Buccaneer miscues. ETSU finished with a 36-27 rebounding edge.
The Eagles return to action on Sunday (Nov. 24) for a matchup with Atlantic 10 foe Duquesne. Tipoff at Johnson arena is set for 2 p.m.
