TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 77, Arkansas State 62
North Carolina A&T 74,
@Morehead State 56
@Wisconsin, 63,
Eastern Illinois 55
MURRAY STATE 77, ARKANSAS STATE 62
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State women’s basketball team picked up its third straight win Tuesday by defeating Arkansas State, 77-62, at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky. The win marked the first victory for the Racers over a team from one of the 10 FBS conferences since defeating Ball State at home in 2012.
Murray State (4-2) used a big second quarter to secure the win by putting together a 13-0 run in the stanza and outscoring the Red Wolves, 21-8, in the frame. Arkansas State cut the lead to eight in the third and 10 in the fourth, but it would not get any closer as Murray State picked up the win in a game in which it led for over 37 minutes. Free throws were a big factor in the win for the Racers as they went 22-for-26 on the night including 16-for-18 in the fourth quarter.
Macey Turley became just the fourth player in MSU history to go 11-for-11 at the free throw line Tuesday and is now one of six players to shoot 100-percent from the charity stripe when attempting 11 or more free throws. The sophomore finished the game with 28 points, while Lex Mayes scored a career-high 18.
Alexis Burpo tied a career-high of nine rebounds to lead Murray State on the boards in the game, in addition to scoring 10 points. Lexi Hawthorne rounded out the four starters in double-digits in the game as she scored 12 and pulled down eight rebounds.
Murray State returns to action next Tuesday when it travels to Evansville to take on the Purple Aces at 6 p.m.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T 74, MOREHEAD STATE 56
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State Women's Basketball team saw its offense fall cold from the field during the fourth quarter as North Carolina A&T pull away for a 74-56 decision on Tuesday evening at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles were held to 4-of-16 (25%) shooting in the final period which allowed the Aggies to close the game on a 23-10 run.
Despite its troubles scoring late in the contest, Morehead State opened the game by taking a 20-13 lead into the first-quarter break due in part to 8-of-17 (.471) shooting.
North Carolina A&T managed to pull the game even at 29 each entering halftime. In the third stanza, N.C. A&T began to create separation with its lead growing to as many as 13 but the Eagles answered with a 10-2 run over the final 3:46 of the quarter to cut the deficit to five but had no answer in the fourth.
Senior forward Jaleesa Avery led the Eagles offensively with 16 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting night. Avery's scoring efforts left her one-point shy of tying her career-best scoring output (17, vs Kentucky Christian – 11/26/18). Sophomore forward Ellie Jo Johnson turned in a double-figure scoring night as well with 10 points while also grabbing a team-best seven rebounds.
North Carolina A&T had its offense powered through 6-foot-3 center Alexus Lessears' 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Lessears' also tallied a game-high nine rebounds. NCA&T not only controlled the paint with a 48-24 scoring advantage, the visitors also rejected 14 shots behind a seven-block game by Jayla Jones-Pack.
The Aggies, who were winners of the 2018 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship, improved to 4-3 with the win.
Morehead State sees its record slip to 2-4 overall after dropping its second consecutive contest.
The Eagles return to their home floor on Saturday against Radford for a 12:00 p.m. ET tipoff.
WISCONSIN 63, EASTERN ILLINOIS 55
MADISON, Wis. - The EIU Panthers fell to the Wisconsin Badgers 63-55 Tuesday night. The Panthers stayed in the game for the first half, despite being out-rebounded by 13 at the end of the half. Abby Wahl had a career day against the Badgers, scoring 23 and shooting 56.3% on the game. Wahl also led Eastern in rebound with seven on the game. EIU struggled against the length of the Badgers, being out-rebounded by 13 total. Taylor Steel was the other Panther who scored double digits, with 15 on the day.
The Panthers started the first few minutes of the game strong, leading in the beginning. The Panthers defense looked like it was going to give the Badgers problems, however Wisconsin went off on a run and never looked back. The Badgers led at the end of the first 22-15, with Taylor Steele leading the Panthers in scoring with 6 points.
Neither team was shooting particularly well in the second quarter, with Wisconsin shooting 23.1%, and EIU shooting 33.3% going into the final minutes of the half. The name of the game was offensive rebounds for the Badgers. Wisconsin out-rebounded 28-15 at half, along with nine more offensive rebounds than the Panthers. Wisconsin took advantage of the, scoring 14 points off of second chance points in the half. At half, the Badgers led 31-28. Wahl led all scorers with 12 points at halftime.
Eastern got off to a rough start coming out of half. Wisconsin outscored the Panthers 12-1 in the first five minutes of the third quarter. The Panthers couldn't control the ball, turning the ball over eight times in the third quarter alone. Taylor Steele kept the Panthers in the game, scoring 5 points in the quarter, putting her at 13 on the game. Wisconsin led Eastern 48-36 at the end of the third.
The Panthers didn't go out without a fight, scoring 11 points in the first five minutes of the final quarter. Jordyn Hughes and Wahl each managed to get a three-pointer, bringing EIU within 11 points of the Badgers. The Panthers cut the deficit to , but could not overcome the third quarter deficit, and ultimately lost to the Badgers 63-55.
Eastern will look to bounce against Lipscomb on Sunday.