Murray State University Athletics
Hayes still the best 'long shot' in the nation in three-point shooting
12/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
In horse racing, there are favorites, there are contenders and there are long shots. Usually, it's not a good thing to be a long shot, but the Murray State Lady Racers have the best "long shot" in NCAA Division I.
Sophomore guard Ashley Hayes is the best three-point shooter in the nation for the second straight week, now averaging 3.38 three-point baskets per game, slightly increased from last week's 3.33 average.
Hayes hit six threes against Arkansas-Little Rock on Friday and was able to get one at Louisville on Sunday to bolster that average.
After missing her first 12 three-point attempts this season, Hayes has hit 49.1 percent of her shots behind the arc (27 of her last 55), hitting seven of 16 attempts this week.
Hayes tied the Murray State single-game record with eight treys at Arkansas-Little Rock on Dec. 4, where she hit three in the last 1:02 of the game.
This marks the first time for any Lady Racer to lead a national category at any point in the season.
Hayes' accuracy has helped Murray State rank 43rd out of 324 Division I teams in three-point shooting with 6.4 treys per game.
Other areas where Murray State ranks among the top one-fourth of the nation's teams are three-point percentage, where the Lady Racers rank 55th at .357; free-throw percentage, where MSU is 66th at .722 (conference rival Tennessee Tech ranks first at .818); fewest turnovers, where Murray State is 73rd at 16.4 per game; and fewest fouls, where the Lady Racers are 81st at 15.6 per game.
Murray State has the Christmas holiday off, but returns to action at the Cyclone Classic in Ames, Iowa, where the Lady Racers open against Mercer (2-4) on Dec. 29 at 5:30 p.m. OVC rival Eastern Illinois and host Iowa State are also taking part in the tournament.
