Box Score
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Eastern Illinois women's basketball team nearly pulled off the upset Thursday afternoon, but a late fourth quarter push from Morehead State propelled the Eagles to a 66-62 win. With the loss the Panthers drop to 5-10 and 1-2 in the OVC while Morehead State improves to 13-3 and 3-0 in the conference.
Three Panthers finished the game in double-digits led by
Grace Lennox who tied her career high with 26 points against MSU while adding seven assists and three rebounds.
EIU started the game off quickly after MSU's Shay Steele made the game's opening basket as the Panthers went on a 14-0 run capped off by a layup from Lennox at the 5:54 mark to make it 14-2. The Eagles managed to cut EIU's lead down to three points following a jumper from Steele making the score 16-13 with 1:25 left in the quarter.
EIU finished the quarter with five points as
Allison Van Dyke drilled a three-pointer with three seconds left to make it 21-13 heading into the second period. The Panthers shot 50 percent in the first quarter with Van Dyke already scoring 10 points at the end of the period. Van Dyke finished the game with 13 points, four rebounds, and five steals.
EIU maintained their lead throughout the second period thanks in large part to
Zharia Lenoir who scored eight of her 10 points in the second quarter alone. The Panthers pushed their lead to as high as nine points in the quarter thanks to a layup at the final buzzer from Lennox to make it 36-27 at the end of the half.
The Panthers continued to keep MSU at bay throughout the third period until a jumper from Brianna McQueen at the 3:12 mark sparked a 7-0 run for MSU to tie the game at 45-45. Both teams eventually headed into the fourth quarter tied 49-49.
The Panthers recorded nine turnovers in the third quarter resulting in nine points for Morehead State. MSU out-scored EIU 22-13 in the third quarter.
Both teams traded buckets throughout the opening minutes of the final period as EIU managed to answer every MSU bucket to hold a slim lead. Morehead State managed to pull in front following back-to-back buckets from the Eagles to give MSU a 63-60 lead with 3:19 left in the game. That would prove to be all the Eagles needed as the Panthers went cold from the floor in the final three minutes going 1-for-8 to close out the game.
Both teams finished the game shooting 40 percent from the floor. Morehead State out-scored the Panthers 40-20 in the paint.
Four Morehead State players finished the game scoring in double-figures led by Miranda Crockett with 20 points followed by McQueen with 13 and Steele with 12.
Erica Brown led all players with 12 rebounds to tie her season high.
The Panthers continue their OVC road trip through Kentucky Saturday taking on Eastern Kentucky at 3:30 p.m. CT.