Murray State University Athletics
Lady Racers Ready For OVC Road Battle At Tennessee State On Saturday
1/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
After winning two of their last three Ohio Valley Conference games, the Murray State Lady Racers will take to the road for an OVC matchup with Tennessee State on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Gentry Complex in Nashville.
The Lady Racers (6-10, 2-3 OVC) enter Saturday's game following a come-from-behind 70-67 win over Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray. Prior to that, MSU split a pair of OVC games last week with a 71-61 win over Samford and an 85-83 overtime loss to Jacksonville State.
MSU could easily be 5-0 in the OVC after dropping its three league games by a combined total of just six points. For first-year Lady Racer head coach Joi Williams, there are certainly some positive signs that 2003-04 MSU team is making progress.
"As we've watched the film, our kids have seen that it's not really anything our opponents are doing to beat us," Williams said. "The things that have beaten us are things that we're doing to ourselves. The biggest difference for this team is that they're just not used to winning close games."
Though Tennessee State has struggled this season, the Lady Tigers look to be playing their best basketball of the season after picking up their first win of the year on Monday with an 88-38 triumph over Fisk. The Lady Tigers (1-13, 0-4 OVC) will bring a lot athleticism to the table on Saturday and Williams knows how dangerous that can be.
"Tennessee State has struggled, but they really scare me because they're so athletic," Williams said. "We have struggled at times with kids that attack the offensive glass. If they have a night where they're hitting their shots, we could certainly be in trouble."
As the season moves forward, Williams knows that the biggest keys for the Lady Racers will continue to be how well they execute and how hard they're willing to hit the glass.
"It boils down to us doing the things fundamentally that we need to do, especially rebounding," Williams noted. "We've gotten a little bit better (at rebounding). We outrebounded Jacksonville State, but that's a little deceptive because over the last three minutes or so of the game, we gave up about five offensive boards.
"That doesn't show up in the stat sheet. It just shows up that we still outrebounded them, but the key is when we gave up those offensive rebounds. I'm pleased with our effort, but we got to get better at the crucial points in the game."
Prior to hosting MSU on Saturday, the Lady Tigers will welcome Tennessee-Martin into the Gentry Complex today at 5 p.m.
The MSU Sports Network's live broadcast of the Lady Racers' game at Tennessee State on Saturday can be heard by Clicking Here.
THE SERIES: MSU leads the all-time series 19-15, although TSU holds a 9-8 advantage in games played in Nashville. The Lady Racers have won six of the last seven meetings in the series.
