Murray State
Austin Peay
Lady Racers play solid game in first half, but OVC-leading APSU comes back
2/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State Lady Racers used a staunch defense and 50-percent shooting to take a 33-28 halftime lead at league-leading Austin Peay, but the host Lady Govs turned their fortunes around, using a late 10-0 run to put the game away, 80-70, in Ohio Valley Conference action tonight.
Murray State (9-14, 5-7 OVC) made 11 of its 22 first-half shots and went 9-for-11 from the line in the first 20 minutes, while APSU (17-6, 11-1 OVC) went 0-for-2.
The Lady Racers were able to harass the Austin Peay shooters down low, as Lady Gov Carden Cobb made the APSU offense in the first half, hitting seven of her 11 shots to gain 14 points for Austin Peay at the half.
In the second half, however, the Lady Govs' inside game turned righted itself, as Gerlonda Hardin went 6-for-9 from the field after going 1-for-4 in the first half. Cobb went 6-for-8 in the second half to bolster the APSU effort.
Murray State scored first in the game and pushed out to a four-point lead three times early in the first half. After Cobb hit a jumper to give Austin Peay a 15-13 lead with 10:32 left in the first period, MSU went on a 7-0 tear, with two free throws by junior guard Rebecca Remington, a jumper by sophomore center Lori Trumblee, two free throws by senior guard Jenny Bowden and a freebie by junior guard Brittany Park to take a 20-15 lead with 7:40 left in the half.
The teams exchanged baskets before Bowden's three-pointer gave the Lady Racers a 25-19 lead with 6:34 remaining to halftime. From that point, APSU scored the next six points to knot the game at 25-25 on a Cobb jumper with 3:11 left in the period.
Murray State then went on an 8-3 run, as two free throws by senior guard Megan Fuqua gave teh Lady Racers the lead back and a jumper by senior forward Stacy Holmes extended that lead to 29-25. After a trey from APSU's Kera Bergeron narrowed the MSU lead to 29-28, a jumper by Holmes and a layup by freshman guard Gerraca Matthews closed out the half, giving the Lady Racers a 33-28 margin at the intermission.
At the half, although fouls were even at eight, Murray State went 9-for-11 from the line, while Austin Peay went 0-for-2. The first 20 minutes were almost all transition, with MSU getting only two offensive rebounds and APSU gathering only three.
Holmes opened the second half with a jumper, and after Hardin's layup and a jumper by Cobb closed the MSU lead to 35-32, the Lady Racers used a 9-2 run as part of a 12-4 blitz, taking its largest lead of 47-36 when Fuqua popped in a trey with 14:43 left in regulation.
The Lady Govs then began a furious offense, scoring the next nine points when Jessica Grayson popped in a basket, Hardin put in a layup and then hit two free throws. Cassandra Peek's three-pointer closed the Murray lead to 47-45 with 12:36 left.
Austin Peay continued to chip away at the MSU lead, taking its first lead since midway through the first half when Grayson hit a layup to give APSU a 56-55 lead with 9:08 remaining.
The teams exchanged baskets and the lead. When Holmes' jumper gave Murray State a 59-58 lead with 6:53 left, Austin Peay scored six unanswered points to take a 64-59 lead with 5:24 remaining.
The Lady Racers countered with five unanswered points of their own to tie the game at 64-64 when Trumblee completed a three-point play with 4:01 left.
Austin Peay made its final decisive move from there, scoring 10 unanswered points to vault out to a 74-64 lead with 1:02 remaining. Three-pointers by Fuqua and freshman guard Ashley Hayes were countered by 6-for-8 free-throw shooting by Austin Peay over the last 29 seconds for the final 80-70 tally.
"In the first half, we attacked offensively, and did a good job," said MSU head coach Joi Williams. "Defense was our main key. That's what sparked our offense, and it depended on our execution and rebounding.
"In the second half, we didn't do either. (Austin Peay) came out and went inside to Gerlonda Hardin on our helpside defense. She really hurt us. (Hardin had 19 of her 21 points in the second half.) When you hold a player like her to just two points in the first half, you know she's going to come back on you in the second half. We just didn't step up to face the challenge."
Murray State was led by Fuqua's 19 points. The Beggs, Okla., native finished the week averaging 23.5 points per game against the top two teams in the conference, having put in a career-high 28 at Tennessee Tech on Thursday. Fuqua went 5-for-15 -- 5-for-10 from three-point range -- and hit all four of her free-throw attempts.
Holmes added 14 points for MSU on 7-for-12 shooting, while Remington had 11 points and six rebounds.
Junior forward Kaleena Miller worked hard down low, grabbing a team-high eight rebounds, with six of those on the defensive end. Holmes had five boards, while Trumblee had four.
Bowden had a team-high four assists, and she and Holmes swiped a co-game-high two steals apiece.
The Lady Racers finished the game on 40.3-percent (25-for-62) shooting from the field, only the second team in conference play to do so against Austin Peay. The other team to do so was Eastern Illinois, the only OVC team to beat the Lady Govs thus far this season.
MSU went 12-for-14 from the line, going to the line only three times in the second half and hitting them all, while APSU went 15-for-24 from the line in the second period.
Austin Peay was paced by Cobb's 26 points and 11 rebounds. Hardin added 21 points and seven boards, while Grayson had 10 points and seven caroms. Peek also had 10 points to go with a game-high six assists for APSU. Ashley Haynes added five assists, while Peek and Bergeron swiped two steals each.
The Lady Govs shot 60 percent (18 for 30) in the second half to finish at a 52.5-percent (31-for-59) rate.
Murray State closes out this five-game road swing on Tuesday, when the Lady Racers visit Tennessee-Martin. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., and the game can be heard through the "Teamline" links at www.GoRacers.com or locally through WNBS (1340 AM).
