Box Score (PDF) I Roberts Postgame Interview I OVC Tournament Bracket (PDF)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 7 Eastern Kentucky University women's basketball team upset No. 2 seed Morehead State, 73-67, in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium.
 
Senior Jalen O'Bannon – who was voted first team All-OVC on Tuesday – led the way with a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds. She added four assists and two blocks.
 
Fellow seniors Mariah Massengill and Alexus Cooper also came up big in the upset victory. Massengill finished with 11 points and a team-high five assists, while Cooper posted 14 points, four assists and three steals.
 
The EKU bench played a pivotal role, as well. Junior Madison Wood contributed eight points, seven rebounds and a career-high five blocks, while senior Marcella Rocha came up with a team-best four steals.
 
EKU (11-19) used a 13-2 run to take its largest lead of the game, 62-41, when Wood converted a layup just over a minute into the fourth quarter. However, Morehead State (21-9) stormed back with a 21-6 run and pulled to within five, 68-63, when Darianne Seward buried a three-pointer with just over a minute to play.
 
The Eagles made it a five-point game again, 71-66, when KayK Tate knocked down a triple with 14 seconds on the clock.  
 
Massengill, however, calmly sank a pair of free throws on EKU's next possession to push the lead back to seven, and EKU held on for the postseason win over its in-state rival.
 
Miranda Crockett led four Eagles in double figures with 16 points. She also had six rebounds and three steals.
 
Eastern stifled Morehead State to 37 percent (23-of-63) shooting from the field and 26 percent (5-of-19) shooting from the floor.
 
The Colonels, meanwhile, overcame 22 turnovers by shooting 48 percent (24-of-50) from the floor. EKU also out-rebounded Morehead State, 39-34, and blocked a season-high eight shots.
 
EKU ran out to a 10-point lead in the game – 15-5 – when Massengill went coast-to-coast for a layup with 4:43 remaining in the first quarter. A bucket by Wood with less than 30 seconds on the clock made it an 11-point advantage, 26-15, at the end of the first.
 
Eastern grabbed its largest lead of the first half, 35-20, when Cooper converted a pair of free throws with 3:53 showing on the clock in the second quarter; however, Morehead State scored four unanswered points to close the half and cut EKU's lead to 11, 40-29, at the break.
 
After picking up her second foul and sitting out the last 1:26 of the first half, O'Bannon exploded out of the locker room and scored EKU's first 10 points of the second half. Her final point of the streak, a free throw, sparked the 13-2 run that ended when Wood gave the Colonels their largest lead of the day, 62-41, just over a minute into the fourth quarter.
 
EKU has Thursday off before playing the winner of No. 3 SIUE / No. 6 Tennessee Tech in the semifinals on Friday at 3:00 p.m. ET.