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MOREHEAD, Ky.—It must have been two-for-one day at Johnson Arena.
Morehead State women’s basketball took a big lead early by outscoring Longwood 2-to-1, but the Lancers used the same tactic to rally late in the second half, forcing Morehead State to hold on for a thrilling 82-79 win Sunday afternoon at Johnson Arena.
It was the Eagles (10-4) seventh win in the last eight games. Coach Tom Hodges tied former MSU bench boss and current Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell as the fastest to 10 wins by an MSU coach in his or her first season.
Longwood (3-10) got a layup from Krystal Garrison with 1:12 left to make what had been a 21-point MSU advantage into a two-point lead. Mina Jovanovic added a free throw to make the margin one, but Courtney Lumpkin and Chynna Bozeman each hit a free throw to secure the win.
The Eagles started the game 4-for-5 from the field and jumped out to a quick 12-6 lead. MSU extended it to 24-12 at 11:06 and had the lead at 16, 32-16 at 8:03. The lead got as high as 18, but a 3-pointer by Erin Neal at the end of the first half gave MSU a 15-point intermission lead at 50-35.
The Eagle advantage got as high as 21 early in the second half before Longwood began to chip away at the lead with the two-for-one tactic. By the 5:57 mark the lead was down to 10 and by 1:30 it had dropped to four following a jumper by Mina Jovanovic, setting up the frantic finish.
Lumpkin led all scorers with 22 points – one short of a career high - and five assists. Ashar Harris scored 20 points and pulled down 18 rebounds and Bozeman scored 17. Bozeman and Linda Dixon also dished out five assists, a career best for Dixon, and swiped four steals.
Jovanovic led Longwood with 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Neal scored 11 as did Heather Tobeck.
MSU scored 21 first-half points off of 15 Longwood turnovers, but the Eagles, who shot 51.4 percent in the first half, only hit 36 percent from the field in the second half. MSU also was careful with the ball in the opening half with just eight mistakes but turned it over 11 times in the second 20 minutes.
The Eagles return to Ohio Valley Conference play Thursday against Tennessee Tech at home. Tip-off is set for 5:15 p.m.
