Panthers fall short at Morehead State

Sophomore+guard+Phylicia+Johnson+attempts+a+drive+to+the+basket+against+Illinois-Chicago+during+the+Panthers+78-66+loss+on+Dec.+14+at+Lantz+Arena.

Jason Howell

Sophomore guard Phylicia Johnson attempts a drive to the basket against Illinois-Chicago during the Panthers’ 78-66 loss on Dec. 14 at Lantz Arena.

Bob Reynolds, Sports Editor

Morehead State went on a 10-4 run in the closing minutes to defeat the Eastern women’s basketball team, 67-62, at Johnson Arena in Morehead, KY.

Junior guard Shakita Cox gave the Panthers a 58-57 lead with a pair of free throws with 2:31 to play in the second half.

The Panthers could not find the answer for Almesha Jones, who drained a 3-pointer as she scored eight of the Eagles final 10 points and had 26 for the game. She added a jumper at the 1:39 mark and then hit four more free throws to close out the game

In his press conference following the game Morehead State coach Greg Todd was impressed with the way Jones handled herself throughout the game.

“Almesha certainly stepped up big for us today,” the first-year coach said. “She made several key free throws and a couple of clutch 3-pointers.”

Eriel McKee added a basket in the final minute to give her 11 points on the day.

The Panthers trailed 31-28 at halftime as both teams’ shot below 40 percent in the first half.

The Eagles took the first half lead with under eight minutes to play on a couple of free throws by Jones.

Shay Steele hit a jumper at the halftime buzzer to give the Eagles their halftime lead. Steele had 14 points on the day.

Eastern forward Sabina Oroszova said there wasn’t really anything that Morehead State did to present challenges.

“I don’t think they did anything special,” she said. “Our defense just wasn’t where it was supposed to be, and we didn’t execute well.”

Oroszova was the leading scorer for Eastern and the only Panther to reach double figures

Lately, Oroszova has been putting extra work in the gym to make her game more expandable.

“I have been working on my shot lately, to be more of an effective player other than the post game,” she said.

Oroszova finished the night with 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. She totaled seven rebounds and two steals in 39 minutes of play.

Ten of her points came in the first half, which she shot 4-of-7 from the floor.

Other than Oroszova, the Panthers had a rough day shooting the ball as the rest of the team went 12-of-40 from the floor and 2-of-14 from three

As a team, the Panthers shot 17-of-18 from the free-throw line, which kept them in the game for most of the time.

After having 21 and 19 points, respectively on Thursday against Eastern Kentucky, Arnisha Thomas and Bh’rea Griffin combined to shoot 1-of-8 from the floor for a combined eight points.

The Panthers will head to Tennessee-Martin on Wednesday to take on the Skyhawks, who have yet to lose a conference game this season.

Eastern is now 7-12 on the season overall and 4-2 in conference play.

 

Bob Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].