Murray State
Eastern Kentucky
Lady Racers start out strong, but EKU comes back, 88-78
1/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State Lady Racers started out strongly against Ohio Valley Conference rival Eastern Kentucky, taking as much as a 10-point lead early in the second half, but the Lady Colonels took advantage of good shooting and rebounding down the stretch to forge the 88-78 win over MSU tonight.
Murray State (5-8, 1-1 OVC) used a 14-4 run early in the first half to take a 16-7 lead with 12:31 left in the period. Eastern Kentucky (7-6, 2-0 OVC) was able to pull to with in a point, 27-26, but the Lady Racers closed out the half on a 14-7 run to take a 41-33 lead at intermission.
A basket by freshman guard Shaleea Petty gave MSU a 43-33 lead at the start of the second half, but a 9-0 EKU run early in the period brought Murray State from a 50-41 lead to a 50-50 tie with 13:48 left in regulation.
The Lady Racers pushed back out to a 60-52 lead midway through the half, but the Lady Colonels used an 11-2 run to take a 63-62 lead on a Miranda Eckerle three-pointer with 9:52 remaining. A three-pointer from sophomore guard Ashley Hayes gave MSU the lead back at 65-63, but a layup by Tamara Arnold tied the game again, and an Eckerle basket gave EKU the lead for good.
Murray State was able to pull to within two when senior guard Rebecca Remington hit two free throws to close the EKU lead to 73-71 with 5:57 left, but four unanswered points by EKU sealed the game.
"We did not rebound well at all in the second half," said MSU head coach Joi Felton. "When you give up 19 offensive boards, you're not going to win. We need to go back to the drawing board and work on that."
Murray State shot 51.6 percent (16-for-31) from the field in the first half, but Eastern Kentucky hit 61.8 percent (21-for-34) of its second-half shots.
Murray State was led by 19 points and a season-high nine rebounds from Remington to go with six assists.. Hayes added 11 points and hit three three-pointers to bring her nation-leading average to 3.15, while Petty put in 10 points and had a game-high eight assists. Hayes also had a team-high three steals.
Eastern Kentucky was paced by Eckerle, who tied career-highs with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Ashlee Cazee added 16 points off the bench, while Arnold put in 12 points off the bench. Eckerle, Arnold and Pam Garrett each had a team-high four assists, while Eckerle swiped a game-high four steals.
Murray State visits OVC rival Samford on Thursday in a 5 p.m. tipoff. That game can be heard locally on WNBS (1340 AM, Murray) and through the Teamline link at www.GoRacers.com.
