By Marlon Scott | Senior Staff Writer

After demoting the Eastern Kentucky Lady Colonels Thursday, Jan. 28, 68-57, the Lady Govs were looking to remain perfect at home against OVC opponents when the Morehead Eagles swooped into the Dunn Center Sunday, Jan. 31.

But the Eagles had other ideas. Especially the preseason pick for OVC Player of the Year, junior guard Chynna Bozeman.

Bozeman led a barrage from behind the three-point line the Lady Govs did not have an answer for. The Lady Govs fell into a 20-point hole in the first half they would never dig themselves out of and lost the game 68-88.

Junior guard Ashley Herring led the team with 21 points. Sophomore guard Whitney Hanley scored 14 and senior forward Nicole Jamen added 12 points.

However, the trio scored most of their points in the second half of the game. Despite getting second chances at shots by crashing the boards for 12 rebounds in the first half, the Lady Govs’ shooting was so cold, their breath could almost be seen on the court.

The Lady Govs made only 11-of-33 (33 percent) field goals in the first half. The normally potent, post duo of sophomore center Jasmine Rayner and Jamen combined for only 12 first half points.

Conversely, the Eagles were red hot. They shot 68 percent (19-of-28) from the floor including 9-of-14 (64 percent) from three-point range. No one was hotter than Bozeman.

At the 13:46 mark, Rayner battled for a layup in the paint and a chance to make a three-point play from the free-throw line. She missed the free throw, but her score cut the Eagles lead to four points, 9-13.

Then it started raining threes.

It began with Eagles senior guard Tiffanie Stephens. Afterwards, Bozeman made three, 3-pointers in a row. When the net settled, the Eagles were ahead 25-11.

The Bozeman show continued to a 22-point first half finish.

In the half, she made 8-of-9 from the floor including 5-of-6, 3-pointers. With 1:21 remaining in the half she dropped two more consecutive shots from downtown. It was part of an 18-5 run that ended at halftime with the Eagles ahead 53-31.

Bozeman finished the game with 37 points.

To their credit, the Lady Govs kept fighting and improved in the second half. They increased their shooting percentage to 50 percent (15-of-30) in the second half and outscored the Eagles 37 to 35.

But it was not enough to catch the high flying Eagles. They would get no closer than 20 points the rest of the game.

By splitting the games this week, the Lady Govs (8-14, 7-4 OVC) moved up to third place in the OVC behind Eastern Illinois (14-8, 10-1 OVC) and Morehead State (16-7, 9-2 OVC).

They will play three conference games on the road before returning to the Dunn Center to play Jacksonville State Thursday, Feb. 18.