Murray State
Eastern Kentucky
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Lady Racers battle Eastern Kentucky, but Colonels pull away at the end
12/8/2005 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Murray State (1-7, 0-1 OVC) fought EKU to a 35-35 draw in the first half, then kept up a seesaw battle throughout most of the second half, taking as much as a three-point lead, then allowing the Colonels (2-6, 2-0 OVC) as much as a three-point lead.
MSU took its largest lead of the second half when freshman Amber Guffey completed a three-point play with 6:58 left in regulation to give the Lady Racers a 62-57 lead. EKU's Ashley Cazee hit a three-pointer, then Laura Shelton hit a layup to give the game its 10th tie at 62-62 with 5:57 remaining.
Sophomore guard Alaina Lee hit a layup to give Murray State a 64-62 lead, but the Colonels tied it for the last time on a Cazee layup with 4:39 left to begin an 8-0 run, pushing out to a 70-64 lead when Andrea Jenkins hit a layup with 1:59 left.
An Erica Gordian layup and a free throw by Ashley Nichole Hayes got the Lady Racers within three, 70-67, with 40 seconds left, but Jenkins hit a layup to push the EKU lead to five with 32 ticks left.
Ashley Brooke Hayes popped in a three with 18 seconds remaining to cut the lead to two points, 72-70, but Murray State fouled down the stretch and EKU hit three of its four free-throw attempts for the 75-70 win.
"I think we've got something to build on," said MSU head coach Joi Felton. "Not having been in a game all year, I'm just real proud of that. We've been working hard on rebounding. We didn't do a good job of putting it back in.
"Hopefully, on Saturday (against Morehead State), we'll be at full strength (with the play of Joi Scott and Shaleea Petty). (Morehead State) has a real good inside game. They have a talented junior from Saint Louis who has been playing well the last few games. She is LaKrisha Johnson, and we have to do a good job with her on the inside, and they have some really good shooters on the outside."
Murray State was led by Gordian, who had a co-game-high 18 points to go with nine rebounds, making all five of her free-throw attempts.
Ashley Nichole Hayes had her third double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 16 rebounds to go with three assists and two steals. Lee added 12 points to go with a co-team-high four assists and co-game-high three steals, while Ashley Brooke Hayes put in 11 points on 3-for-5 shooting from three-point range to go with five rebounds and three assists. Guffey had a co-team-high four assists for MSU.
The Lady Racers out-rebounded EKU 50-42 (28-22 in the second half), but the Colonels' defense stymied MSU with six blocked shots in the second half.
Eastern Kentucky was paced by 18 points from Shelton to go with a game-high six assists and two steals. Cazee added 12 points and four assists, while Jenkins had 11 points. Louista Pierre had a team-high eight rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals, while Tamika Bowers had six to go with four assists and three steals. Fatai Hala'api'api also had three blocked shots for EKU.
Murray State hosts Morehead State (5-1, 1-0 OVC) on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. in the Regional Special Events Center. The Eagles got past Austin Peay in Clarksville tonight, 81-75.
