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Women's Hoops Postseason Run Ends Against WKU

MSU Athletics

Junior Aliyah Jeune had a three-point try bounce off the front of the rim at the final buzzer as the Morehead State women's basketball team fell 68-65 to Western Kentucky in the second round of the 2019 Women's National Invitation Tournament on Sunday afternoon at E.A. Diddle Arena.

"Our girls battled from start to finish," said Eagles' head coach Greg Todd. "I thought we played very well against a good Western Kentucky team. I'm proud of our performance and think our girls left it all on the floor."

After taking a 33-30 advantage into the half, the Eagles found themselves trailing the Lady Toppers 65-57 with 2:17 remaining in the game. Junior Jaleesa Avery knocked down a pair of freebies with 2:05 to before senior Miranda Crockett took charge and scored five-straight points shrank the deficit to 66-65 with 1:07 remaining.

The teams remained in a stalemate before WKU's Whitney Creech made two bonus free throws with :26 seconds remaining. The following Eagles' possession saw a missed jumper by Crockett be rebounded by senior Darianne Seward, followed by a missed triple by Avery with nine seconds on the clock. Crockett chased down the Avery miss with three ticks left on the clock and asked for timeout which led to the near make by Jeune.

Jeune finished with a team-best 21 points off the bench while Crockett seconded her with 17 points.

Crockett, who has played all four seasons under Todd, finishes as the program's third all-time leading scorer with 1,847 points after having 17 today against WKU. The Martinsville, Va., native also holds the record for all-time games played with 127 - 126 of which she started. Crockett also finishes her career having scored double-digits in her last 39 games, a feat only bested by seven other current Division I players.

"This team has nothing to hang its head about today," said Todd. "We left everything on the floor and should be proud of our effort. To win as many games as they did and play postseason basketball and win games, which had never been done her before, is a big accomplishment that these girls should be proud of."

The Eagles saw their season end at 24-11 overall - the second most wins in school history and most since the 1978-79 season. Morehead State also earned its first-ever postseason victory by defeating Ohio State 71-61 in Columbus, Ohio, in the opening round of the 2019 WNIT.

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