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.
