Junior guard Almesha Jones nailed an eight-foot jump shot from just outside the lane with one-tenth of a second left Monday night (Feb. 17) to lift the Morehead State women's basketball team to a 45-43 triumph at Jacksonville State.
The Eagles, who swept the season series with JSU and who now have eight wins in a row against the Gamecocks, improved to 11-15 overall and 5-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference. JSU, which entered the game with wins in seven of its last nine contests, slipped to 11-16 overall and 7-7 in the league.
JSU led 30-22 at the half, but the Eagles forced the hosts to shoot 3-for-27 (11 percent) in the final 20 minutes when JSU managed just 13 points.
Following a layup by Candace Morton at the 26-second mark, MSU moved the ball past half-court and took a timeout. Jones got the ball and maneuvered her way around the three-point line before making her move with three seconds left. She shrugged off a defender and let the game-winning shot go with a second remaining.
Jones, who scored a game-high 17 points, also gave the Eagles the lead for good via a layup with 2:30 remaining. She added a team-best eight rebounds and six assists, scoring double figures for the 10th straight game.
Junior forward Mackenzie Arledge registered 13 points and six rebounds, while freshman forward Shay Steele corralled seven rebounds. MSU entered the game with a minus-7.1 rebounding margin in its 25 games but held a 40-35 advantage tonight.
Destany McLin and Briana Benson each had 12 points for the Gamecocks, but McLin didn't score in the second half and Benson had only two. MSU limited JSU leading scorer Candace Morton, who averages 17.3 per outing, to nine points. She has only failed to reach double figures in the point column three times this season, and two have come against Morehead State.
The hosts opened the game on a 13-3 spurt in the first five minutes before MSU rallied. The Eagles outscored JSU 17-11 over the next eight minutes to cut it to 24-20.
Morehead State wraps up a four-game road swing Saturday at Murray State. Game time is set for 8 p
