Murray State
UT Martin
Lady Racers Win Third Straight Game
1/20/2007 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Lady Racers took as much as a 38-22 lead early in the second half, but visiting Tennessee-Martin fought back, bringing the game to a 53-53 tie with 4:13 left in the game. Murray State fought back and won its third straight game, a 67-59 Ohio Valley Conference decision over the Skyhawks. The win was MSU's 10th in its last 11 contests.
Murray State (12-4, 8-1 OVC) trailed 10-6 in the early going, but went on an 11-0 run, starting with a basket by sophomore forward Ashley Nichole Hayes and a three by senior post Erica Gordian gave MSU an 11-10 lead with 12:18 left in the first half, pushing out to a 17-10 lead with 9:13 remaining.
The Lady Racers crashed the defensive boards and executed its offense, hitting 48.1 percent (13-for-27) of its shots from the floor to take a 36-22 lead at halftime. Each team pulled down 15 rebounds in the first half, each taking 11 on the defensive end.
Senior forward Joi Scott had 16 points at halftime -- one point short of her season-high for first-half points -- on 6-for-8 shooting from the field and 4-for-5 shooting from the line. She also had a game-high five rebounds (four defensive) at intermission and two steals.
Phyllishia Mitchell led Tennessee-Martin (10-8, 5-5 OVC) at the half with 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field and a team-high three rebounds. Kimberly Cox had a game-high three assists at the half.
Murray State had a 44-28 lead with 14:52 left in regulation, but the Skyhawks picked up momentum, claiming defensive rebounds and converting them into points to amass a 16-4 run to pull to within 48-44 with nine minutes remaining. Scott scored two free throws, but UTM's Andreika Jackson hit a three to narrow the gap to 50-47 with 8:24 left.
A basket by Hayes and a free throw by sophomore guard Paige Guffey pushed the MSU lead to 53-47 with 7:21 remaining, but Mitchell hit two free shots with 5:25 left and Crystal Fuller hit a running jumper to narrow the gap to 53-51 with 4:43 left. Jackson was fouled in a battle for a rebound, and she hit two free throws to tie the game at 53-53 with 4:13 remaining.
Gordian popped a three with 3:52 left to give the Lady Racers the lead again, but Mitchell hit a bucket with 3:29 left to cut that lead to 56-55. Junior guard Alaina Lee hit a layup with 2:59 left to push that lead to 58-55, but Fuller hit a jumper from the free-throw line to bring it back within one, 58-57, with 2:37 on the clock.
After an MSU timeout, the Lady Racers worked the ball around for a shot, but it fell short. UTM got the rebound and raced down the floor, but missed its shot, and Murray State went back down the floor. A feed-in to Scott from Paige Guffey fell in to increase the MSU lead to 60-57 with 1:37 remaining.
Lee took a feed from Scott to hit a three with 44 seconds remaining to push the lead to 63-57. Junior guard Shaleea Petty hit two free throws with 22 seconds left to give MSU a 65-57 lead. Scott was fouled going up for a rebound with 9.7 seconds left, and she sank her two shots to push the lead back to double-digits, 67-57, and Fuller hit a last-second layup for the final score.
"We showed a lot of poise down the stretch," said MSU head coach Joi Felton. "The sign of a good team is finding a way to win, and we did that. Our team is getting more confident in that kind of situation, especially when we win these games. You have a lot of people you may not expect to hit the big shots step up. Having this kind of confidence can only help us down the stretch.
"(Tennessee-Martin) put three people on Joi Scott at one point in the second half, and that's when they started their run. We also had a stretch where we executed poorly. We did a much better job on the boards tonight. UT Martin is one of the top two rebounding teams in the conference."
Scott finished with 26 points and eight rebounds and four steals, all game-highs. She was 9-for-15 from the field and 8-for-9 from the line, and grabbed six defensive rebounds.
Lee had 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the field, and Hayes finished with 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field to go with four rebounds.
Gordian had four rebounds and a team-hgih three assists, while Petty, who measures 5-foot-5, slapped a game-high two blocked shots.
Tennessee-Martin was paced by Mitchell, who had 22 points to go with five rebounds. Mitchell was 8-for-11 from the field and 5-for-7 from the line.
Fuller had 12 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field and a team-high six rebounds. Nicole Holman had a game-high nine assists for the Skyhawks.
Murray State begins one of its greatest treks ever, as the Lady Racers visit Tennessee Tech on Thursday, go to Southeast Missouri State on Saturday, then go to pre-seaon OVC favorite Samford on Monday.
