1750 fans filled the Beacom-Lewis Gym Saturday evening, to watch the Central State University women’s basketball team, take on rival, Kentucky State University. Behind strong performances by Brooklyn Morrow, Laura Longmire, and Ashley McGee, the Marauders walked away with a victory in dramatic fashion. Central’s record improves to 7-11 overall for the season, snapping a 3-game losing streak, while the Thorobreds fall to 9-6.
Brooklyn Morrow led the team in scoring by a narrow margin with 21 total points. The junior forward also recorded 4 assists and 4 steals, both being game highs for the Marauders. Morrow also played well off the glass, recording 6 boards on the night. Laura Longmire shot 6-11 from the field, drained three from 3-point territory and a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line for a total of 20 points. Junior point guard, Ashley McGee came through with a strong performance, scoring an impressive 18 total points and recording a game high 8 rebounds.
The first half of the contest was in part dominated by the Thorobreds. The Marauders kept it close for the first 8 minutes only down by two points. From there, the Thorobreds started to pull away as they scored 12 unanswered points. Kentucky State led by as much as 15 points with 5 minutes left to go in the half. At the 4:24 mark, the Thorobreds led 17-32, and 32 points is what the Thorobreds would end the half with. The Marauders fought back in the closing minutes of the half to go on an 11 point run, chopping the lead to 4 points going into the locker room.
The Marauders grabbed the lead for the first time in the contest, 60 seconds into the second half, with a pair of foul shots by Brooklyn Morrow. Moments later the Thorobreds went on a 7 point run to regain the lead by 6. The Marauders battled right back going on a 6 point run to tie the game for the third time. Both teams battled back and forth to the 5 minute mark where the score was tied for the eighth time, 58-58. With less than four minutes on the clock, Deshundra Gober drained a three pointer and Brooklyn Morrow adds a lay up to give their team a 5 point advantage. A turnover by Rhonda Harris would spark a 7-2 run for the Thorobreds. Kentucky State’s Shana McCombs drained a three-pointer, tying the game with 46 seconds left to go on the clock. 5 seconds later, Rhonda Harris buries a jump shot to give her team a two point lead with 41 seconds left. Kentucky State’s Jessica Vaughn had a chance with 5 seconds left but turned the ball over to the Marauders. That would close the door on the Thorobreds and the Marauders completed the upset over their arch rivals Kentucky State.
Central State had to rely on their starters as they only got 7 points from the bench the whole game. The Marauders out-rebounded the Thorobreds 41-37. The Marauders shot an unimpressive 35 percent from the floor and 44 percent from long range. They owned the charity stripe, however where they shot 75 percent (18-24).
Central State will travel to Ohio Dominican University on February 2nd where they will be coming off an impressive win, and looking for their eighth win of the season. ODU currently has a record of 11-8 and are riding a five game winning streak.