Murray State University Athletics
Lady Racers bring grudge match to Eastern Kentucky Thursday
1/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State Lady Racers, who lead the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring offense (77.8 points per game) in conference-only statistics, will have revenge on their minds when they travel to Richmond, Ky., to face the Eastern Kentucky Lady Colonels on Thursday. Tipoff time is set for 4:30 p.m. CT.
The Lady Racers (7-10, 3-3 OVC) lost to Eastern Kentucky 88-78 on Jan. 8 in Murray. The Lady Racers were outscored 55-37 in the second half, and Eastern Kentucky's Miranda Eckerle had 25 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Senior Rebecca Remington led the Lady Racers with 19 points, nine rebounds, and six assists.
"I'm looking forward to going on this road trip," Murray State assistant coach Rob Cross said. "We hope to get Eastern Kentucky back for beating us on our home court."
In their last game, the Lady Racers won 82-73 against Tennessee State on Saturday. The Lady Racers set a Regional Special Events Center record for blocked shots, swatting away nine Lady Tiger shots. Remington led the Lady Racer attack, scoring 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting, and also pulling down 11 rebounds and handing out five assists, all while playing all 40 minutes.
"One thing that's clicked for Rebecca is she understands, right now, she has about 10 games left in her career, hopefully, three or four more games after that," Cross said. "She understands that. Right now, she's in the top five in conference games in just about every statistical category in the OVC. I would say that I couldn't name a player any better than her in the league that does more for their team than Rebecca Remington."
Remington leads the team in points and rebounding, averaging 16.2 points and 5.1 rebounds a game. Sophomore Ashley Hayes averages 11.7 points per outing for the Lady Racers, while freshman Shaleea Petty averages 10.3 points per game. Petty also leads the OVC in assists in conference games, dishing out 4.35 a game.
Eastern Kentucky (10-7, 5-1 OVC) just came off a 61-55 victory over Samford, which put them in second place in the OVC standings. After losing six of seven out-of-conference games in a little less than a month, Eastern Kentucky has gone on a tear, winning seven of its last eight games.
In the Samford game, Eastern Kentucky placed four players in double figures, led by Eckerle's 13 points. Laura Shelton scored 12, Ashley Cazee added 11 and Pam Garrett chipped in 10 points to help the Lady Colonels' win. Eckerle also led all rebounders, pulling down a game-high eight rebounds.
Like Remington, Eckerle leads her team on the season in scoring and rebounding. She scores 12.9 points and grabs 6.4 rebounds per contest. Garrett is second on the team in scoring, putting in 10.6 points a game, and Cazee, the current OVC Freshman of the Week, averages 10.5 per game. Cazee had 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting against Murray State on Jan. 8. After Candis Cook (9.6 points per game) and Shelton (9.5 ppg), no other Lady Colonel averages more than 4.0 points per game.
