Box Score By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
A 10-0 scoring flurry to start the second half helped the Murray State Lady Aggies shake off a sluggish start en route to a 76-59 conference-opening win over visiting Seminole State Monday night inside Beames Fieldhouse.

Playing for the first time since December 9, Coach Nate Levine's club got off to a sluggish start, especially on the defensive end, trailing 39-37 at intermission.

"We talked about a few adjustments at halftime and were more disciplined defensively and offensively in the second half," Levine stated. "When you finish at the basket and get stops, good things happen. The message was to allow them to make mistakes. We pulled the press off and didn't give up as many easy buckets after the break."

The second half was a completely different story with the early blitz, forcing three Seminole State turnovers that turned into Lady Aggie points in the initial burst as they carried that momentum to a 60-46 edge after three stanzas. Sophomore Ongolea Afu was the catalyst of the flurry, pumping in eight in the frame with Arissa Garcia adding another seven points. Defensively the hosts also yielded just seven points in the period.

Murray State trailed 19-16 after one quarter following a desperation three pointer at the buzzer by the visitors and were down 39-37 at the break despite an Afu putback at the second quarter horn.

Four Lady Aggies reached double figures in the contest, spurred by Afu's 20-point outing. Keshanti Gordon powered in a season-high 14 points with Garcia adding 13 and Jordyn McNeal contributing 11.

Mya Cotto just missed being a fifth Murray State player in double digits, ending with nine points. Mireia Casas scored four, Olivia Quapaw had three and Taja Bennett chipped in two.

Now 10-2 on the season, the Lady Aggies will step out of league play Wednesday with a home makeup contest against the Southwestern Christian University Junior Varsity starting at 5:30.

"We had a lot of players continue to step up tonight," Levine added. "We are coming together as a team, and even on a night when we were rusty we were able to do enough to get a victory."