Murray State
Cincinnati
Lady Racers fall at Cincinnati 74-57
11/28/2006 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State Lady Racers visited Big East Conference opponent Cincinnati and despite hanging with the host Bearcats through the first 20 minutes, were out-rebounded 29-8 in the second half in the 74-57 loss.
Murray State (2-3) stayed with the homestanding Bearcats early on, using a tenacious defense to convert offensive opportunities. Cincinnati (5-0) led 11-4 with 14:16 left in the first half, but a three-pointer from senior Erica Gordian and a putback by senior Joi Scott narrowed the gap to 11-9 with 12:20 left in the period.
The Bearcats got out to as much as a six-point lead, 18-12, with 8:11 left in the first half, but the Lady Racers responded, as a trey from sophomore Amber Guffey pulled MSU back to within 22-20 with 4:15 remaining. The teams exchanged baskets, and a three-pointer from sophomore Paige Guffey gave Murray State its first lead of the game, 25-24, with 2:46 remaining in the period. UC's Shelly Bellman hit a three to give the Bearcats a 27-25 lead, but junior Alaina Lee hit a jumper with 15 seconds left to knot the game at 27-27. UC's Treasure Humphries hit a layup with three seconds left to give the Bearcats a 29-27 halftime advantage.
Gordian and Amber Guffey led the Lady Racers' balanced scoring at the half with six points each. Paige Guffey had five points, and Lee and freshman Jenny Petrie had four points apiece. Cincinnati was led by Bellman at intermission with 11 points, while Humphries had six.
Gordian grabbed a team-high four rebounds in the first half, and Bellman had nine for Cincinnati. UC out-rebounded MSU 21-19 in the first 20 minutes. Murray State grabbed seven first-half steals to Cincinnati's three, and first-half turnovers were almost even, as MSU had 12 and UC 11.
The Lady Racers held the Bearcats to 36.7-percent shooting (11-for-30) in the first half, while hitting at a 37.9-percent pace (11-for-29).
In the second half, Scott hit a bucket to tie the game at 29-29 with 19:26 left in regulation, and MSU retied the game 32-32 with 16:27 left, but Cincinnati got a basket from Emy Ogide and a three from Angel Morgan to push out to a 37-32 lead with 15:45 remaining. Leading 54-47, Cincinnati used an 8-0 run to push out to a 62-47 lead with 4:39 left in regulation en route to the 74-57 decision.
"We made some poor decisions passing-wise," said MSU head coach Joi Felton. "We didn't execute well off the boards, with our blocking out, and we had worked on that all week, so that made it extra-hard to see. We didn't take care of the ball, and we didn't box them off the boards. We have Lipscomb at home and our OVC opener coming up, so we have to get better in a hurry."
Lee and Paige Guffey led Murray State with 11 points apiece, while Amber Guffey chipped in nine. Lee also had a team-high six rebounds, while Amber Guffey had four assists and junior Shaleea Petty had a game-high three steals.
Morgan led Cincinnati with 18 points. Humphries added 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while Bellman had 13 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Jill Stephens chipped in 10 points for UC.
Murray State returns home to take on Lipscomb on Monday, Dec. 4, at 5:15 p.m.
