Murray State University Athletics
Lady Racers seek to clinch OVC Tournament berth at SEMO
2/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State Lady Racers' "magic number" to clinch an Ohio Valley Conference Tournament appearance is one. This means that the Lady Racers must win one of their remaining two games, or Morehead State has to lose one of its remaining two games for Murray State to get into the tournament. On Thursday, the Lady Racers will travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., to face the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks in search of the elusive win to send them into the tournament. Tipoff time is scheduled for 5 p.m.
"Hopefully we can get one of these two games, so we won't have to depend on Morehead State having to lose," Lady Racer head coach Joi Felton said.
The Lady Racers (9-16, 5-9 OVC) will be coming off a long layoff, not having played a game since Feb. 17. In that 62-57 loss at Tennessee State, the Lady Racers were led by Ashley Hayes, who came off the bench to score 16 points and grab 10 rebounds.
Shaleea Petty just missed the team's second double-double, scoring 10 points, pulling down nine rebounds, handing out five assists and gathering three steals. Gerraca Matthews, Alaina Lee and Katie Willinger also scored eight points apiece for the Lady Racers.
The Lady Racers and Redhawks met on Feb. 5 in Murray, where the Lady Racers only shot 22.6 percent from the field en route to a 60-40 SEMO victory.
Tatiana Conceicao scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Simone Jackson scored 14 points. Chandra Brown scored eight points and pulled down 11 rebounds, while Brandi Russia also scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds for the Redhawks.
Matthews led the Lady Racers with 11 points and six rebounds, while Petty scored seven points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists. Willinger also scored seven points in a losing effort.
The second-place Redhawks (18-7, 12-2 OVC) are led by Conceicao, who is second in the OVC in scoring with her 17.4-points-per-game average. Conceicao, the current OVC Newcomer of the Week, also averages 6.9 rebounds per conference contest, while shooting 55.9 percent from the field. Russia averages 12.2 points per conference game and is second in the league in three-point field goals made, converting on 2.43 three-pointers a game. Brown is also an inside force for the Otahkians, scoring 8.8 rebounds, pulling down 6.9 rebounds a game and blocking 1.9 shots per game.
"Their inside kids, Brown and Conceicao, are very good," Felton said. "They can score in a number of ways. They are long and athletic. Also, Russia is shooting over 60 percent from the three-point line in her last three games. We need to get into our game plan and attack them real early. We have to take care of the basketball and get Rebecca (Remington) and Ashley (Hayes) more involved offensively."
Southeast Missouri State leads the season series, 20-17, with a 13-6 advantage in Cape Girardeau.
