Women's Basketball 3/25/2025 8:52:00 PM

Cold Lady Aggies fall in national tourney opener

Box Score By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
CASPER, WY – A more than six-minute second half scoring dry spell proved fatal for the Murray State Lady Aggies as they dropped a 62-46 verdict to Wallace State Community College in the opening round of the NJCAA women's basketball national tournament at the Ford Wyoming Center on Tuesday.

The Lady Aggies saw a 13-game winning streak snapped as they fell in the tournament opener for the third time in the past four seasons. They finished the campaign with a 28-4 record while Wallace State improved to 29-4.

Coach Nate Levine's squad got off to a solid start, leading 14-13 after one quarter, but could never fully get their transition game untracked as they had hoped.

A Mya Cotto free throw with 6:03 left in the second stanza gave the Lady Aggies an 18-16 edge, but that proved to be their final lead of the game. Murray State missed six shot attempts and turned the ball over five times in 11 of its final 12 possessions of the half as the Lady Lions took control with a 29-20 cushion at intermission.

The offensive struggles and poor shooting from the field for the Lady Aggies continued into the second half as well. A Mireia Casas three pointer with 3:05 to play in the third frame narrowed the gap to 41-33 and provided a short glimpse of momentum.

It was short-lived however as Wallace State pumped in 11 straight points to build a staggering 19-point edge that was too much to overcome.

Murray State finished the game shooting just 34 percent from the field while the Lady Lions sank 44 percent, including connecting on seven treys. Wallace State also ended with a 32-22 rebounding edge in addition to outscoring the Lady Aggies by 12 points in the paint.

Ongolea Afu and Mya Cotto were the only two double figure scorers for Murray State, wrapping up with 10 points apiece. Olivia Quapaw notched six, Casas and Arissa Garcia tossed in five each, Jordyn McNeal posted four while Keshanti Gordon and Latai Charles both added three points.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Ongolea Afu: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#10 Mireia Casas: G; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#5 Arissa Garcia: G; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#0 Keshanti Gordon: G; 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman

#2 Olivia Quapaw: G; 5' 6"; Sophomore

#24 Latai Charles: F; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#15 Mya Cotto: G; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#20 Jordyn McNeal: F/C; 5' 11"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#11 Ongolea Afu
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: F

#10 Mireia Casas
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: G

#5 Arissa Garcia
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: G

#0 Keshanti Gordon
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#2 Olivia Quapaw
: 5' 6"; Sophomore
: G

#24 Latai Charles
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: F

#15 Mya Cotto
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: G

#20 Jordyn McNeal
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: F/C