Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Eastern Illinois
Lady Racers Win Sixth Straight, 93-67 Over EIU
1/2/2007 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State Lady Racers extended their win streak to six games and pushed their home win streak to eight with a straightforward 93-67 win over visiting Eastern Illinois.
Murray State (8-3, 5-0 OVC) used a staunch defense in the first half to hold the Panthers (5-9, 2-3 OVC) -- the top-scoring team in the Ohio Valley Conference -- to 21 first-half points on 8-for-31 shooting (25.8 percent).
Leading 14-10 with 15 minutes left in the first half, Murray State scored the next nine points over the next 2:16, using a layup by junior guard Alaina Lee, a three from junior guard Shaleea Petty, a jumper from senior forward Erica Gordian and a layup from senior forward Joi Scott to take a 23-10 lead.
The Lady Racers then took a 25-15 lead and ran again, using a three from Gordian, a free throw and a layup from Scott and a four-point play by freshman forward Jenny Petrie to cap a 10-0 run and take a 35-15 lead with 5:02 remaining in the half. MSU closed the half on a 14-4 run to take a 49-21 lead at intermission. The 49 points in the first half was a women's arena record.
In the second half, Eastern Illinois pushed back, reducing a 68-40 Lady Racer lead with a 13-4 run midway through the second half to get within 72-53, but the first-half deficit was too great to overcome, and the Panthers would not get any closer.
"We came out and really established ourselves defensively," said MSU head coach Joi Felton. "We pressured the ball hard. We had to focus on contesting shots. We knew coming in that we couldn't give them any open looks, because they would take advantage of that. We did a really good job on that tonight, especially in the first half. We also applied defensive pressure on the perimeter."
Murray State was led by Scott, who finished with 28 points on 12-for-14 shooting, boosting her OVC shooting percentage to 82.8 percent. Scott also had a team-high eight rebounds, all on the defensive end and a team-high two steals.
Sophomore guard Amber Guffey added 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting from three-point range to go with a team season-high nine assists (eight of those coming in the first half) and six rebounds. Petty put in a season-high 13 points, going 3-for-5 from behind the arc, while sophomore forward Ashley Nichole Hayes chipped in 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field.
Lee also had a career-high nine assists, with four coming in the first half and five coming in the second. Gordian finished with five rebounds to go with six points and two assists, including a length-of-the-court bomb to Scott in the second half.
MSU hit 60.3 percent (35-for-58) of its shots in the game, hitting 60.6 percent (20-for-33) in the first half and 60 percent (15-for-25) in the second half. The Lady Racers hit 41.7 percent (10-for-24) of its three-point shots, holding EIU to 21.4-percent shooting (3-for-14) behind the arc.
Eastern Illinois was paced by Rachel Galligan, who had game-highs with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Galligan was 10-for-19 from the field and 10-for-11 from the line.
Jessica Huffman added 10 points and had a game-high three steals, while Ashley Thomas had eight boards and a team-high four assists.
Murray State visits OVC rival Tennessee State (3-8, 1-2 OVC) on Thursday in the first game of a women's/men's double-header. Tipoff for the Lady Racers is set for 5:30 p.m. The game can be heard locally on WNBS (1340 AM, Murray), or through the audio link at www.GoRacers.com. Video streaming will be available through www.OVCsports.TV.
