Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Samford
Lady Racers Remain Undefeated In OVC Play
12/17/2006 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State Lady Racers used control and a strong second half to upend Ohio Valley Conference pre-season favorite Samford 77-63 this afternoon in MSU's Regional Special Events Center. The win kept MSU as the sole undefeated team in OVC women's play.
The game was a battle in the first half, with Samford (6-4, 1-1 OVC) shooting 61.9 percent (13-for-21) from the floor and out-rebounding the Lady Racers 16-10 in the first 20 minutes. In contrast, Murray State (6-3, 3-0 OVC) committed only two first-half turnovers, forcing Samford into making 11 and out-scoring the Bulldogs 13-3 on points off of turnovers in the first period.
Murray State got out to as much as a four-point lead in the first half, taking a 14-10 lead when sophomore Ashley Nichole Hayes hit a jumper with 10:41 left in the half. Samford then went on an 8-2 run to take an 18-16 lead when MaKenzie Spruiell put in a three-pointer with 7:28 remaining.
Samford got out to as much as a 26-20 lead following a 13-4 run over a four-minute stretch, capped by a trey from Alex Munday with 4:56 left in the half. MSU then scored the next nine points to take a 29-26 lead, starting with back-to-back layups by senior Joi Scott followed by a lay-in by freshman Jenny Petrie to tie the game at 26-26 with 3:26 remaining in the half and a three-point play by Scott with 3:03 left.
The Bulldogs tied the game at 31-31 when Taryn Towns hit a three with 1:55 remaining in the period, but a free throw by junior Alaina Lee and a layup by Petrie gave the Lady Racers a 34-31 halftime lead.
Murray State used an 8-0 run early in the second half to turn a 37-36 deficit into a 44-37 lead, as Lee put in a three to give the Lady Racers the lead for good, 39-37, with 18:16 left in the game, then Scott popped in a three and junior Shaleea Petty put in a jumper during the run. Samford would only be able to get with two points from that point.
In the second half, MSU shot 51.9 percent (14-for-27) to Samford's 38.7 percent (12-for-31). The Lady Racers out-rebounded the Bulldogs 19-15 in the second period.
"We're really excited about the win," said MSU head coach Joi Felton. "We worked hard all week, and our kids really focused. Samford, of course, is very good. They've got some great shooters, and their offensive style is difficult to guard. You've really got to switch your defenses up a lot and keep them off-balance. My concern was that we didn't want them to get real comfortable. We gave them some wide-open looks because of miscommunication. We are very excited about this win, and we want to continue to take them one at a time.
"They did a good job of playing their tempo and making us play their tempo. We had a couple of possessions where their kids just got past us when we played a sagging man-to-man defense. But, when we get to our 'attack' mode, we're pretty good, and that's what we went to more in the second half.
"We've got to get the ball inside," she said, referring to the Lady Racers' size advantage down low, "either by dribble penetration or inside to our posts. The posts did a great job today, the guards did a great job of finding them. We ran some stuff where we isolated Joi and Ashley, and that worked for us.
"We did a great job of taking care of the ball. We didn't do a great job down the stretch, closing it out, but I'm really proud of the way we took care of the ball, and I'm really proud of the way we kept them off the free-throw line.
"It's a long season," she said. "We're excited about this win, we're going to enjoy it, but we've got a long way to go. We've got a lot more games to play, and we just want to take them one at a time and keep our focus. I think the conference will take notice that our three wins were against three very tough opponents. We have a good basketball team, but we also know that we have some areas where we need to improve, and we still have to get better if we want to make a run in March."
Murray State was led by Scott, who scored 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, four on each end of the court.
Hayes added 21 points, going 7-for-14 from the field and 6-for-6 from the line, with all of her free throws coming in the second half. Hayes also had seven rebounds.
Sophomore Amber Guffey chipped in 15 points, going 2-for-3 from three-point range and 7-for-7 from the line, with five of those coming in the first half. Guffey also had five assists to go with four rebounds.
Petty had a game-high six assists and a co-game-high two steals in the game, with no turnovers. Scott and senior Erica Gordian also had two steals each, while Scott had the game's only blocked shot.
Samford was led by Munday's 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting (3-for-5 from behind the arc) and game-high 10 rebounds off the bench. Towns added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Bulldogs. Megan Wilderotter and Karmen Smith each had a team-high four assists for Samford, while Smith had a co-game-high two steals.
Murray State will close out its calendar year with a home game against Jacksonville State. Tipoff is set for Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. The game can be heard locally through WNBS (1340 AM, Murray) or worldwide through the audio link at www.GoRacers.com. Live Stats will also be available, and video streaming will be available through www.OVCsports.TV.
