Murray State
Morehead State
Lady Racers hold off late surge by Morehead State, win 80-75
1/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State Lady Racers put together one of its most complete games of the season and faltered towards the end, but were able to hold off a late Morehead State surge, claiming the 80-75 Ohio Valley Conference win tonight in Murray.
Murray State (5-7, 1-0 OVC) spotted the Lady Eagles a 4-1 lead early in the game before using a 16-5 run to take a lead it would not relinquish.
With the Lady Racers trailing 4-3, sophomore guard Gerraca Matthews hit two free throws to give Murray State a brief 5-4 lead. After Morehead State's Stacey Strayer hit a three-pointer to give the Lady Eagles a 7-5 lead, Matthews popped in a jumper to tie it at 7-7 with 13 minutes left in the first half. Sophomore guard Ashley Hayes then tossed in a three of her own to give Murray State the lead for good.
The Lady Racers used an 11-0 run late in the half to forge a double-digit lead and take a 36-23 lead into the locker room at intermission.
The second half was much like the first, as Murray State pushed out to as much as a 22-point lead when junior guard Jill Fulkerson popped in a three-pointer to give the Lady Racers a 62-40 lead with 8:43 left in regulation.
The Lady Eagles (2-10, 0-1 OVC) fought back, chipping away at the lead, but not able to get it down to single digits until later in the half.
Murray State held a 76-63 lead with 2:56 remaining when Morehead State went on a 12-1 run over the next 2:13, pulling to within 77-75 with 43 seconds remaining. Matthews hit two free throws with 20 seconds left to push the Lady Racers ahead by four, and Hayes hit a free shot with eight seconds left to ice the game.
"We didn't execute well in the second half, but I'm proud of our players," said Murray State head coach Joi Felton. "We out-rebounded them, the first time we've out-rebounded an opponent all year.
"We've played a tough non-conference schedule; we've been through the fire. Now, we're starting to see where that has helped this team."
Murray State was led by freshman guard Shaleea Petty, who had a game-high 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field and 4-for-5 shooting from the line to go with a team-high three steals.
Freshman center Katie Willinger -- getting her first career start -- put in 13 points and grabbed a co-game-high eight rebounds, equaling a season-high for her. Senior guard Rebecca Remington chipped in seven points, seven rebounds and a co-team-high four assists, while freshman guard Francheska Foreman, playing in her first career game, added five points and four assists.
The Lady Racers shot 84 percent from the line, hitting 21 of their 25 shots. Murray State had 39 rebounds to Morehead State's 36, and had a 26-14 rebound advantage at halftime.
Morehead State had five scorers in double-figures, including Anitha Smith-Williams' 17 points, TaNeisha Johnson's 16, Strayer's 15, Holly Williams' 11 and Patti White's 10. Williams had eight rebounds, while Johnson had five assists and Smith-Williams had four steals and seven boards.
Murray State hosts Eastern Kentucky (6-6, 1-0 OVC) on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. The Lady Colonels got past host Tennessee-Martin 68-67 tonight.
