Murray State
Morehead State
Lady Racers offense stifled by Morehead State defense
1/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State Lady Racers faced a physical, stifling defense at Morehead State tonight and fell to the Lady Eagles 71-59 in Ohio Valley Conference action.
Murray State (7-12, 3-5 OVC) got off to a good start, opening the scoring on a jumpshot by senior forward Kaleena Miller and back-to-back three-pointers by junior guard Jill Fulkerson to jump out to an 8-0 lead.
The Lady Racers pushed that out to as much as a 16-7 lead when sophomore guard Gerraca Matthews hit a lay-up with 14 minutes left in the half, but the Lady Eagles closed out the first half on a 22-10 run to lead 36-32 at halftime.
Murray State started the second half much like it did the first, scoring the first six points of the period on two free throws by senior guard Rebecca Remington and back-to-back jumpers by Matthews to take a 38-36 lead with 17 minutes left in regulation.
The Lady Racers expanded that lead to 42-39 when junior forward Jessie Hirsch hit a lay-up with 13:46 left in the game, but Morehead State scored the next eight points to take a 47-42 lead with 11 minutes left.
A jumpshot by Remington and a jumper by sophomore guard Ashley Hayes brought Murray State to within a point, 47-46, with 10:10 left in regulation, and the Lady Racers trailed 50-48 with 8:36 remaining, but Morehead State went on a 9-2 run to jump out to a lead that Murray State was unable to overcome.
Murray State was led by Matthews, who had 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field to go with a co-game-high two steals. Remington finished with nine points, a game-high eight rebounds and four assists, while Hayes had nine points and freshman guard Alaina Lee had eight.
Miller grabbed five rebounds, while freshman guard Shaleea Petty had a team-high five assists and a co-game-high two steals.
Morehead State was paced by Tarah Combs' 19 points, while Jessie Plante had 18 points and two steals and Natalie Collins added 15. TaNeisha Johnson and Vanessa Jackson each had seven rebounds, while Johnson handed out eight assists.
Murray State opens a five-game homestand on Feb. 3 against Eastern Illinois. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:15 p.m.
