Murray State
Northern Iowa
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Lady Racers Fall On The Road To Northern Iowa
11/30/2005 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Two baskets by Hager in the opening minute and a half staked the home team to an early 4-0 lead. Ashley Brooke Hayes got the Lady Racers on the board and cut the deficit to one with a three-pointer at the 18:18 mark.
Hager became the all-time Missouri Valley Conference blocked shots leader 35 seconds into the contest, blocking her 222nd career shot.
An old-fashioned three-point play by Ashley Nichole Hayes with 17:12 to go in the first half tied the score at 6-6, but that is as close as Murray State would get the rest of the game.
After Alaina Lee's jumper with 14:21 remaining the Panthers used a 12-2 run to take a 12-point advantage. Hager scored five of UNI's points during the run.
Back-to-back MSU buckets cut the deficit to eight with under 10 minutes to go before halftime, but the Lady Racers would get no closer. An 8-2 run to close the first half gave Northern Iowa a 16-point halftime cushion, 40-24.
Hager added four more points and entered the locker room at the break with 19 of her game-high 21. She finished nearly perfect on the night, going seven-of-eight from the field and seven-of-seven from the charity stripe.
The Lady Racers made just 10-of-35 first half shot attempts (28.6 percent) while Northern Iowa shot 48.3 percent from the field and connected on 10-of-12 first half free throws.
Tara King's free throw extended the UNI advantage to 20 points with 13:29 left to play. Her jumper at the 6:12 mark made it 71-45. Another King basket gave the Panthers their largest lead, 29 points, 76-47, with just under five minutes to go in the game.
King finished with 18 points off the bench and added six rebounds and three assists.
Murray State ended the game on an 11-2 run to cut the final margin to 20 points. MSU improved its second half shooting to 50 percent (15-of-30) but UNI shot 53.8 percent from the field, including 58.3 percent from beyond the three-point line.
Erica Gordian came off the bench and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds for Murray State. The junior added nine points and two blocks.
The Lady Racers will be back in action on Friday when they begin play in the State Farm Tiger Classic hosted by the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. MSU will face Alcorn State in the first round at 7:00 p.m.
