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Second-Half Scoring Run Pushes Women's Hoops Past SEMO

MSU Athletics

The Morehead State women's basketball team hit 82 percent from the free throw line and used a 10-0 second-half run to knock off Southeast Missouri 64-59 Thursday night (Jan. 8) at the Show Me Center.

The Eagles (6-9, 2-0 Ohio Valley Conference) won for the 10th consecutive time over SEMO (7-9, 0-3 OVC) and for the fifth straight time at the Show Me Center. The Redhawks still leads the all-time series 21-17. Morehead State is 2-0 in the league for the second straight season.

"I thought we got off to a good start today and then we got a little complacent on offense in the first half," Head Coach Greg Todd said. "We played much better and did what we needed to do in the second half though to get the victory."

The Eagles shot 47 percent (14-of-30) in the final half and nailed 22-of-27 from the free throw line for the game, including 10-of-11 in the final half. MSU held SEMO to just 30 percent (21-of-70) accuracy from the field on the night. MSU led the entire first half until the final minute.

"I thought our defense was the best it has been all year," Todd added.

Senior guard Almesha Jones scored a team-best 17 points and grabbed a season-best nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Shay Steele produced her second double-double in the previous three outings with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Natalie Greenwell connected on 7-of-8 from the charity stripe, scoring 11 points, and senior guard Maiki Viela netted eight points, all in the second half.

"When Maiki and Natalie can give us the kinds of games they did tonight, we are a very good team," Todd said. "Certainly Almesha, Shay and (freshman forward) Eriel (McKee) are the players who get the most attention, but we need our other players to step up and give us a boost too. Maiki and Natalie did that tonight."

The teams were tied at 26 at the half, and the hosts proceeded to build a 47-42 lead with 11:47 left. Steele started and finished the 10-0 run with layups, and MSU led 52-47 at the 9:19 mark. Southeast Missouri missed nine consecutive field goals during the MSU scoring flurry.

The Eagles pushed their largest cushion to seven on two occasions. The Redhawks cut the MSU advantage to 62-59 with 21 ticks remaining, but senior forward Casey Ryans drilled her lone pair of free throws with eight seconds left.

The Eagles finished at 39 percent (21-of-54) from the field. MSU was 0-of-13 from three-point range, marking the second game this season the Eagles have been held without a trey.

Morehead State continues its OVC road trip Saturday at UT Martin. Game time is set for 5 p.m.

"UT Martin started slow, but they have really been playing well the past few weeks," Todd said. "They have won four straight OVC championships, so we'll have another tough task. I like the way our team is performing right now though."

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