Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Western Kentucky
Lady Racers hit hard by homestanding Hilltoppers
1/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Like the men's team did the day before, the Murray State Lady Racers took a hard loss on the road on the eve of the opening of the Ohio Valley Conference schedule, taking a tough 94-46 loss at Western Kentucky tonight.
The Lady Toppers (5-6) scored the first eight points of the game and 16 of the first 18, taking a 50-21 lead at halftime to help forge the win.
Murray State (4-7) -- previously undaunted by turnovers -- was haunted by turnovers, committing 26 in the game and 17 in the first half. The Lady Racers were also whistled for 21 fouls, allowing WKU to go 21-for-27 from the line, while MSU scored only eight free throws.
"I was really disappointed in how we started," said MSU head coach Joi Felton. "We got ourselves into a hole early on. I give Western Kentucky credit; they came out and played hard. We talked earlier today about not giving up transition points, but that's exactly what we did.
"Offensively, we did not execute. We had 17 turnovers in the first half, and you can't be successful with that. Hopefully, we will learn from this and let it help us in our conference season."
Murray State was led by sophomore guard Ashley Hayes, who scored 11 points and pulled down a co-team-high six rebounds. Freshman center Katie Willinger also had six rebounds, while freshman guard Shaleea Petty swiped a team-high three steals and sophomore guard Gerraca Matthews had nine points and a team-high two assists.
Hayes scored three three-point baskets to bring her average to 3.27 per game. Hayes led the nation in three-pointers per game prior to tomorrow's (Tuesday's) NCAA statistical listing.
Western Kentucky was paced by 25 points and five steals from Tiffany Porter-Talbert. Leslie Logsden added 21 points and six assists, while Crystal Kelly had 16 points and 14 rebounds. Krystal Gardner put in 15 points, while Camryn Whitaker and Tifany Zaragoza also had six assists.
Murray State opens its Ohio Valley Conference season at home on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. against Morehead State. That game can be heard locally on WNBS (1340 AM, Murray) and through the Teamline link at www.GoRacers.com.
