By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The one number that didn't add up Monday night for Tennessee Tech was at the free throw line, where Morehead State outscored the Golden Eagles by 17 points on the way to a 10-point, 64-54 Ohio Valley Conference victory in Eblen Center.
MSU (9-12/5-3 OVC) was a near-perfect 22-for-23 at the line, the best number of the game for the visiting Eagles, who won for the third time in the last four games. Tech (5-17/2-7 OVC) went to the charity line just six times and made four.
Beyond that, the numbers were rather close. Tech shot 36 percent and MSU hit 39 percent. Both teams struggled from long distance, Tech going 2-for-10 and MSU just 2-for-12. Turnovers were 21-20, and Tech held a 40-35 lead in rebounds.
Morehead State grabbed hold of the lead just three minutes into the contest and never let go. The Eagles led by just three at halftime, but opened the gap to as many as 19 points in the second half.
Almesha Jones, who broke the MSU career record for assists in her last game, added seven more helpers Monday while leading the Eagles with 19 points. She also had six rebounds and three assists.
Jones was one of four MSU players to score in double figures. Freshman Eriel McKee added 14 points and eight rebounds, senior Casey Ryans had 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Shay Steele finished with 10 points.
Tech had solid numbers from senior T'Keyah Williams and junior Samaria Howard. Williams notched her second consecutive double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, going 6-for-9 from the floor and 2-for-2 at the line. Howard led all scorers with 22 points and added nine rebounds, three assists and four steals.
The Eagles took advantage of several Tech miscues in the first half to move on top quickly. The first half MSU lead grew to double figures at 21-10 with 9:26 remaining in the period when Steele made a breakaway layup to cap a 6-0 run.
Tech fought back in a hurry with a 7-0 run to cut the difference to 21-17 as Williams converted a three-point play, followed by baskets from Howard and Hannah Goolsby.
Free throws pushed Morehead State's lead back to eight, before the Golden Eagles closed the half by notching the final five points and heading to the break trailing 27-24.
Tech made it a one-point game three minutes into the second half, 31-30, on back-to-back baskets from Williams and Howard, but Morehead went on an 8-0 run behind two baskets from Jones and four free throws by Ryans.
A 14-2 MSU run pushed the difference to 19 points, the widest margin of the night, at 53-34. Six of those points came the free throw line, while McKee drained a pair of 3-pointers.
The Golden Eagles outscored MSU own the stretch, 10-3, to bring the different back to 10 for the final score.
The Golden Eagles have a relatively mild stretch ahead, with just one game on the schedule in the next 11 days. That contest is a 4 p.m. encounter at Belmont on Saturday afternoon, the first game of an OVC doubleheader with the Bruins in Nashville.
