TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 73, Southern Indiana 62
MOREHEAD STATE 73, SOUTHERN INDIANA 62
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State got a hot-shooting second half and pulled away with a 73-62 win over Southern Indiana Tuesday in Johnson Arena.
The victory guaranteed the Eagles a top-four finish in the Ohio Valley Conference standings and a bye into at least the quarterfinals of the OVC Tournament in Evansville.
Morehead State (18-12, 13-6 OVC) shot 63% from the floor in the second half and seven of 13 from three-point range (54%). The Eagles hit 10-13 (77%) from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore Violet McNece led four Morehead State players in double figures with a career-high 23 points. McNece shot seven of 10 from the floor, including hitting five of seven from behind the arc. She also hit all four of her free throw attempts.
Laura Toffali finished with 15 points. Josefine Enander added 12 points, all in the second half. Enander hit four of six from three-point range. Landon Forbes finished with 10 points.
Southern Indiana (19-9, 13-6 OVC) was led by Allie Saunders with 21 points. Chloe Gannon added 19 points.
Tied at 30-30 at the half, both teams came out of the intermission with hot shooting. USI hit nine of 15 from the floor; the Screaming Eagles pounded the ball in the paint. All 18 of their points in the period came from the lane, led by Chloe Gannon with 10 points in the frame.
Morehead State hit seven of its 10 shots from the floor including five of eight from three-point range. McNece went two of four from distance and Enander hit both of her treys in the quarter. The Eagles outscored USI 21-18 and led 51-48 heading into the final ten minutes.
Morehead State went on an eight-point run capped by two free throws by Landon Forbes to put the Eagles up 61-52 at the 7:17 mark. The Eagles lead expanded to 10 on a Marie Sepp free throw with 3:10 to play.
Southern Indiana cut the lead to four at 66-62 with 1:11 to go on a Saunders three-pointer. MSU hit seven of eight free throws to close out the game.
After trailing 14-11 at the end of the first period, the Eagles went on a 10-0 run capped by a pair of Toffali free throws at the 4:31 mark to go ahead 28-18. Aided by five MSU turnovers the rest of the half, USI outscored the Eagles 12-2 to close out the quarter.