Murray State
UT Martin
Lady Racers rebound well, but fall in overtime at UTM
1/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State Lady Racers grabbed a season-high 49 rebounds and committed only 11 turnovers in its Ohio Valley Conference game at Tennessee-Martin tonight, but had no answer for the Skyhawks' tough defensive play inside and UTM's Andreika Jackson in MSU's 75-72 overtime loss.
Murray State (6-10, 2-3 OVC) put up good shots that just wouldn't fall, hitting only 33.3 percent (23-for-69) from the field. The Lady Racers also hit 33.3 percent of their three-point attempts, sinking 10 of their 30 tries.
MSU maintained its solid showing from the line, however, missing only one free-throw attempt in each period, finishing with a 16-for-19 performance (84.2 percent). Murray State has shot 80 percent or better from the line in four of its last five games, going 81-for-98 over the last five games, an 82.7-percent rate.
The 49 rebounds is the most for the Lady Racers since pulling down 53 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Nov. 29, 2003.
Jackson led all scorers with 33 points on 12-for-14 shooting from the field, going 9-for-13 from the line and grabbing a team-high 13 rebounds.
At Tennessee-Martin (4-12, 3-2 OVC), Murray State trailed 21-13 in the first half before using a 10-0 run to take a 23-21 lead. This week's OVC Newcomer of the Week, Jessie Hirsch, started the run with a three-pointer, then freshman guard Shaleea Petty put in a three of her own. Freshman center Katie Willinger popped in a jumpshot to tie the game at 21-21 with 6:12 left in the half, then Petty put in a layup with 5:33 left in the period to give MSU a 23-21 lead.
The lead seesawed from that point until the Skyhawks took a 28-26 lead when Jenny Lannom hit a jumper with 2:49 left in the half. A jumpshot by freshman guard Alaina Lee tied the game at 28-28, then two free throws by senior guard Rebecca Remington gave Murray State a 30-28 lead. A three from sophomore guard Ashley Hayes expanded that lead to 33-28 with 1:25 left in the period. MSU had a 35-33 lead at halftime.
Murray State led for much of the second half, taking as much as a 53-48 lead when junior guard Jill Fulkerson hit a trey with 7:32 left in regulation. UTM was able to whittle that lead down, taking a 58-57 lead when Lannom hit another jumper with 3:23 left in regulation.
Hirsch was fouled while trying a three-pointer and made all three free throws to give MSU a 60-58 lead with 2:54 remaining in the second half, and hit one of two free-throw attempts to push that lead to 61-58 with 1:14 left. UTM's Nicole Rivers popped in a three with 51 seconds to tie the game at 61-61. Remington and Hirsch each got off jumpshots in heavy traffic, but were unable to convert.
In the overtime period, Hayes hit another three to give the Lady Racers an early lead, but Jackson came in and made a three-point play to tie the score at 64-64. Remington hit two free throws to give Murray State another lead, but a trey from UTM's Keva Robinson gave the Skyhawks a 67-66 lead with two minutes left.
A jumpshot by Remington gave MSU its final lead of 68-67 with 1:36 left in the first overtime. Two free throws by Jackson and a jumper from Robinson pushed the Skyhawks out to a 71-68 lead. Hirsch hit a free throw to trim the lead to two, but Rivers popped in two free throw to push Tennessee-Martin out to a 73-69 lead with 15 seconds left.
Remington landed a three with three seconds left to cut the lead to one and MSU fouled Rivers on the inbounds play, but Rivers hit both free throws for the final margin.
"We played hard at times, but they weren't at the right times," said MSU head coach Joi Felton. "We crashed the boards well, but didn't really play smart."
Hirsch finished with the team's first double-double of the season, getting 12 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Remington led the Lady Racers with 16 points, going 6-for-6 from the line, grabbing six rebounds and handing out a team-high three rebounds.
Petty and Hayes each chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds Hayes also had three assists and two steals.
Murray State returns home to take on Tennessee State on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. The Lady Racers then hit the road again, visiting Eastern Kentucky on Jan. 27.
