Murray State University Athletics
Lady Racers look to extend season
2/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Now that they're the hottest team in the Ohio Valley Conference with four straight wins, the Murray State Lady Racers aren't ready for their season to end just yet.
MSU will face No. 4 Southeast Missouri (15-12) in the Show Me Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in their OVC Championship Tournament first-round match-up.
Murray State (13-14) is the No.5 seed in the tournament, its highest seed since 1999-2000, when the Lady Racers were the third seed.
That season is pertinent in that it was also the last time for Murray State to advance to the OVC Tournament semifinals in Nashville -- and the last time MSU beat Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau. The Lady Racers will seek two bring both of those factors together again this season, but they know it will not be easy.
"I'm excited about whoever we would play," said MSU head coach Joi Williams. "SEMO definitely has a very good team, and I'm sure they will have our last game on the forefront of their minds."
Murray State beat the Otahkians 64-59 last Thursday in Murray, halting a seven-game win streak for SEMO. The Otahkians beat the Lady Racers 74-60 in Cape Girardeau on Feb. 7.
"This will be a road game, so we have to do the little things," Williams said. "We have to make the hustle plays, and definitely do a good job defensively. SEMO has talented players offensively, so we'll see what happens."
Williams has the Lady Racers rolling, having won their last four contests, the longest win streak since -- well, 1999-2000, when MSU had two five-game win streaks. The nine OVC wins is the most league victories for any Lady Racer first-year coach, and her 13 overall wins ranks second among Lady Racer first-year coaches.
Southeast Missouri lost 78-75 in overtime at Tennessee-Martin on Saturday, closing out its regular season with two losses.
"I'm excited about the way we're playing," Williams said, "but at this point, everybody is 0-0. You can put games behind you -- SEMO can put its last couple of games behind them -- and have something brand new. We certainly know that SEMO is a team on a mission, and we need to take care of the game one possession at a time."
The winner of the MSU-SEMO contest will face the winner of the No. 1 Austin Peay-No. 8 Morehead State game in the semifinals at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. That game will be played at noon if Austin Peay wins or at 2 p.m. if Morehead State wins and either No. 2 Tennessee Tech or No. 3 Jacksonville State wins. Tech hosts No. 7 Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday, while JSU entertains No. 6 Eastern Kentucky.
