OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University women's basketball team (23-9, 13-5 MAC) lost a heartbreaker to Western Kentucky (19-14, 11-5 C-USA) in the first round of the WNIT in Millett Hall on Thursday.
Lauren Dickerson led all players with 25 points, reaching 20 points for the 11
th time this season.
Kendall McCoy also reached double figures, sinking five three-pointers for 15 total points.
Dickerson scored the first four points on the floor, splitting the defense and then stealing the inbounds pass to put Miami ahead 4-0 early.
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Kendall McCoy hit a three-pointer to give Miami a 7-2 lead after two minutes of play before back-to-back baskets from the Lady Toppers brought them within one. Dickerson responded with a long-range shot to increase Miami's lead to 10-6 at the media timeout with 3:47 to play in the first quarter.
McCoy hit her second from behind the arc out of the media timeout.
Kristen Levering got onto the scoreboard with moves inside to give the RedHawks a 15-8 lead with 2:17 to play in the first quarter.
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McCoy hit her third long-range shot of the quarter and
Kennedy Taylor added a basket to give Miami a 20-9 lead after 10 minutes of play.
Western Kentucky got its first three-pointer of the game to start the second quarter and scored the first five points of the quarter before Miami got onto the scoreboard with a jumper from
Baleigh Reid. WKU scored another five-straight points to close the gap to three points with 6:42 left in the half.
Dickerson and Reid each sunk a shot to give the RedHawks a 26-21 lead at the media timeout with 4:48 remaining in the second quarter.
The Lady Toppers cut Miami's lead down to four points, 26-22, with a free throw after the media timeout.
Savannah Kluesner and Dickerson scored back-to-back to extend the 'Hawks lead back up to eight points. Dickerson was the first player on the floor to reach double figures, doing so with 3:28 remaining in the first half.
Miami had nine assists as a team during the first half. Taylor got her second basket of the game on a pass from Levering.
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Dickerson sunk her second from behind the arc to give Miami a double-digit lead with one minute to play in the first half but a buzzer beater from Western Kentucky would give the RedHawks a 35-27 lead going into the locker room.
Leah Purvis opened the second half with a three-pointer to give Miami a double-digit lead for the second time of the game. WKU scored five-straight points before Dickerson floated one in to continue to lead the floor with 16 points as the RedHawks led 40-32 with 6:46 to play in the third quarter.
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Miami held a 42-39 lead at the third quarter media timeout with 4:49 to play in the quarter. Western Kentucky took its first lead of the game with 3:29 remaining in the third quarter as the RedHawks fell behind 42-45 after a pair of free throws and a basket.
The Lady Toppers went on a 10-0 run to take a 51-42 lead with 1:32 remaining in the third quarter as WKU outscored Miami 24-12 in the third quarter as a whole. Dickerson ended the 'Hawks scoring drought with a three-pointer and a basket to cut Miami's deficit to 47-51 with one quarter to play.
Miami extended its run to 8-0 to open the fourth quarter as McCoy hit another three-pointer to cut Western Kentucky's lead to one point. McCoy sunk her fifth from long range to tie the game at 53 with nine minutes to play.
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Miami held the lead until Western Kentucky took a 59-58 lead with 4:33 left in the game. Purvis took the lead back for the RedHawks on the next possession with a three-pointer before the game was tied at 61 with 3:40 remaining. Dickerson tied the game again at 63 with 41 seconds to play. WKU got a shot to roll in and the RedHawks could not answer, falling 63-67 after capping the game with a pair of Western Kentucky free throws.
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