EDWARDSVILLE – Morehead State took the first of back-to-back games Saturday with a 63-53 victory over SIUE women's basketball at First Community Arena.
The two teams will play again in Morehead, Kentucky, with game time set for 5 p.m. CT Monday.
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"We'll have a couple days to prepare for them, and we'll be right back at them," said SIUE's Mikayla Kinnard. "We just have to move forward."
Morehead State, 3-8 overall and 2-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference, finished with two players with double-doubles as Arial Kirkwood scored 20 and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. Gabby Crawford scored 12, grabbed 10 rebounds and collected six of Morehead State's 10 blocks.
The Eagles made the most of their free throws, hitting 23 of 28 overall from the charity stripe.
"We put them at the line too many times," noted SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher.
SIUE's bench provided more than half of its scoring led by 17 from Mikia Keith, a new career high, and 12 from Kinnard. Keith made her mark in the fourth period with 11 of her 17 points.
"We still need to get our rhythm. We know exactly what we need to do to prepare for this (next) one," said Keith.
SIUE, 4-7 overall and 1-5 in the OVC, was down by as much as 11 in the first half before going on an 11-0 run to tie the game 18-18 on a three-pointer by Sara Majorosova with 2:35 left in the second period. Morehead State regained the lead by halftime 24-21.
The Cougars took their first outright lead with 4:52 left in the third period on a driving layup by Kinnard. Morehead State fought back to take another three-point lead (37-34) by the end of the period.
Kirkwood made the push for 12 of her 20 points in the fourth period for Morehead State. The Eagles also converted 18 of 20 free throws in the period.
"I just have to keep us confident on the offensive end," said Buscher. "I truly believe this team has a lot of scorers."
