Murray State
Southern Illinois
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Freshman Hayes' double-double not enough in loss to Salukis
11/22/2005 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Hayes had double-doubles in both exhibition games, but scored eight points and had five rebounds in MSU's season-opener against Ball State on Saturday.
Hayes was 8-for-15 from the field, a perfect 5-for-5 from the line and had a team-high three steals in tonight's game against the Salukis (2-0).
Freshman guard Amber Guffey scored 18 points and handed out five assists for the Lady Racers, shooting 5-for-7 from the field and 8-for-9 from the line. Junior guard Ashley Brooke Hayes put in 14 points on 4-for-9 shooting from behind the arc.
Sophomore guard Alaina Lee -- playing in her first game since injuring her ankle on the final play of the final exhibition game on Nov. 10 -- handed out six assists for MSU (0-2).
Southern Illinois was apced by 28 points, three assists and five steals from Jayme Sweere, who was 11-for-18 from the field. Carlai Moore added 21 points on 10-for-15 shooting, while Katy Freeman added 14 points and Jasmine Gibson had 12, both off the bench. Erin Pauk put in 11 points on 6-for-6 shooting from the line.
Elysa Morris grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for SIU, while Gibson had seven and Moore had six.
Murray State fell behind by as much as 17 points midway through the first half, but used an 11-2 run late in the period to whittle the lead down to eight, 40-32, when senior forward Jessie Hirsch put in a layup with 36 seconds left in the half. MSU trailed 42-32 at intermission.
The Lady Racers got to within 42-36 after Ashley Nichole Hayes scored back-to-back baskets to open the second half, but the Salukis padded their lead bit by bit and never let MSU back in the game.
"It was very disappointing," said Murray State head coach Joi Felton. "We just did not come out and execute defensively. We just didn't play with a lot of intensity, for whatever reason. We played aggressively in spots. We just have to learn -- and unfortunately, we learn the hard way -- that you have to sustain that kind of effort for 40 minutes in order to be successful.
"To give up 54-percent shooting, that's really bad (SIU shot 54.4 percent from the field to MSU's 41.9 percent), so we've got a lot to work on in practice this week."
Murray State concludes its season-opening three-game homestand on Saturday when the Lady Racers welcome nationally-recognized Western Kentucky. The Lady Toppers are ranked 31st in this week's ESPN/WBCA Poll and 37th in this week's Associated Press Poll. Tipoff time is set for 7:30 p.m. in the Regional Special Events Center.
