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’Hawks down Eagles 59-57

D5016 Women's Basketball vs NKU
D5016 Women's Basketball vs NKU

By Coburn Gillies, For The Miami Student

Sophomore guard Ana Richter led the RedHawks with 20 points as the Miami women's basketball team downed Morehead State 59-57 Sunday afternoon.

MU improves to 3-2, while Morehead falls to 3-4.

"We controlled the tempo like we wanted to, for the most part, and held them to less shots than they normally take," head coach Cleve Wright said. "That's a good team. They have talent and they are young."

Miami was stingy on defense, as the Eagles had averaged almost 90 points per game heading into the matchup.

"I think for our defense - that was definitely part of our game plan - to focus on defense," Richter said. "We knew the offense was gonna come and we did a good job of just doing what Coach Wright told us and executing what we needed to do."

Senior forward Tamira Ford agreed.

"Team defense, it is a big part of our game plan," Ford said. "So just making sure we are there for our teammates and having our help side. That was really big because we know that Morehead State has some pretty good drivers on their team. So help side was gonna be big and that's where team defense comes in."

While the RedHawks led the way for the majority of the first half, the third quarter score went back-and-forth and ended at a 45-45 tie.

The fourth quarter was just as close. With 4:20 left on the clock, the teams were tied at 53.

Contributions from freshman guard Leah Purvis, freshman forward Kristen Levering, sophomore forward Molly McDonagh and sophomore guard Baleigh Reid helped push Miami to the slim 2-point victory in front of a crowd of 209 people.

MU finished the game 23-of-60 from the field, while Morehead State went 24-of-64. Aside from Richter, another RedHawk who stood out was McDonagh, who finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Levering totaled nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks, while Ford finished with eight points and four rebounds.

The 'Hawks tip off against Valparaiso University at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Oxford, Ohio.