Murray State
Eastern Kentucky University
Lady Racers end season with 94-69 loss at Eastern Kentucky
3/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State Lady Racers fought hard early in its first-round game of the O'Reilly Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament at Eastern Kentucky, shooting 62 percent in the first half and using a 10-2 run late in the half to pull to within six points, but the top-seeded Lady Colonels forged ahead in the second half en route to the 94-69 win.
Eastern Kentucky (21-7) advances to play Jacksonville State in the tournament semifinals on Friday at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tenn. The other semifinal features Southeast Missouri State against Tennessee Tech.
For Murray State (9-19), freshman guard Alaina Lee poured in a season-high 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting. Junior forward Jessie Hirsch added 12 points and a co-team-high three rebounds and two steals, while freshman guard Shaleea Petty put in 11 points to go with a co-team-high three assists and two steals.
Senior guard Rebecca Remington had nine points to go with three assists and two steals, while sophomore guard Ashley Hayes had a co-team-high three rebounds.
Eastern Kentucky jumped out to a quick lead, scoring the first seven points of the game, and pushed out to a 14-point lead, 40-26, with 5:23 left in the half.
The Lady Racers then went on a 10-2 run, starting with a tip-in by Lee, followed by a three-pointer by freshman guard Francheska Foreman. EKU's Candis Cook put in a bucket, but then Petty popped in a three and Hirsch hit a jumper to cut the EKU lead to 42-36 with 3:01 remaining in the half. EKU led 55-41 at intermission.
Murray State was 18-for-29 (62.1 percent) from the field in the first half, but Eastern Kentucky countered with a 19-for-35 (54.3 percent) half from the field and hit 13 of 15 free-throw attempts in the first 20 minutes, while MSU was 2-for-6 from the line.
Eastern Kentucky's defense held the Lady Racers to 31.3-percent shooting (10-for-32) in the second half to bolster the win.
EKU was paced by Miranda Eckerle's 27 points and 15 rebounds. Candis Cook added 13 points and 10 rebounds to go with six assists, while Tamara Arnold put in 12 points to go with seven rebounds, four steals and three assists. Pam Garrett scored 10 points for the Lady Colonels.
