MOREHEAD, Ky. – Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (4-18, 2-11 OVC) fell to Morehead State (8-15, 3-10 OVC) on Thursday night by a final score of 63-57 from Johnson Arena. 
 
The backcourt duo of Lexi McCully and Zoe Best led the Redhawks in scoring with 16 points each as the two combined for 11-32 from the field and a perfect 6-6 at the free throw line. Center Ainaya Williams was the other Redhawks who finished in double-digits with 10 points and snagged six rebounds in just 15-minutes of action. 
 
As a team, SEMO shot 32.2-percent from the field (19-59), 27.8-percent from three (5-18), and 73.7-percent at the charity stripe (14-19).
 
Forward Briah Hampton recorded a career-high six blocks, all coming in the first half of play on Thursday night. Hampton scored a point, grabbed eight rebounds to go along with her six blocks. 
 
The Eagles opened the scoring with back-to-back layups to start the contest with a 4-0 lead before Lexi McCully got on the board with a pullup jumper at the elbow for her first-of-three first half field goals. 
 
McCully scored the first nine points of the contest for the Redhawks with another jumper, a pair of free throws, and a three-pointer to make it 11-9 at the game's first media timeout with 5:43 left. 
 
Skylar Barnes got on the scoresheet for the first time against her former team with a tough fade away jump shot just outside of the lane to get the Redhawks to within a point. 
 
MSU closed the first quarter on an 8-3 run as Zoe Best scored the final basket of the opening quarter for the Redhawks. The Eagles led 20-14 at the end of the first. 
 
Just 22 points combined between the two teams in the second quarter as both teams struggled to shoot the basketball. Combined, the teams were 6-34 from the field in the second. 
 
Brianna Hill scored the first basket of the quarter for the Redhawks to get to within four points of the Eagles. SEMO got to as close as 23-21 with 5:12 left before halftime via a pair of McCully free throws and a three-pointer from Jariyah Williamson that sparked a 5-0 SEMO run. 
 
SEMO would go cold over the next four minutes as MSU went on an 8-0 run to extend their lead out to 31-21 with just under a minute until the break. Best finished a layup over the Eagles' defense to make it 31-23 MSU at the end of 20-minutes. 
 
McCully led the Redhawks in scoring with 11 first half points on 3-7 shooting and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. As a team, SEMO shot 32-percent from the field (8-25) with all their free throw attempts coming from McCully. 
 
Briah Hampton recorded a SEMO career-high six blocks in the first half off the bench in 16:13 of action. She hauled in four rebounds as well to lead the Redhawks who finished with 17 first half rebounds. 
 
Best began the second half with a beautiful move to the basket and finished through contact for the old-fashioned three-point play to get the Redhawks to within five early in the third quarter. 
 
A pair of runs from the Redhawks beginning with a 5-0 run got the Redhawks to within three points of the Eagles with 7:34 left in the third frame. Anjelicia Del Valle and Ainaya Williams recorded three free throws with Williams converting a layup to make it 34-31 MSU. 
 
MSU pushed their lead back to eight points before a 10-0 SEMO run gave the Redhawks their first lead of the contest with 1:51 left capped off by a Briah Hampton layup. SEMO led 41-39 after the layup. The Eagles would close the quarter on a 7-0 run and took a 46-41 lead into the third quarter break. 
 
A Zoe Best three-pointer with 3:56 left got the Redhawks to within a point, but that was the closest they got the rest of the way as the Eagles iced the game at the free throw line and won 63-57. 
 
Looking Ahead
The Redhawks will return to action on Saturday, February 8, at Southern Indiana. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m., CT. in Evansville.