Murray State
Southeast Missouri
SEMO Cools Off Sharp-Shooting Lady Racers, 67-61
1/8/2007 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Murray State was the hottest shooting team in the Ohio Valley Conference going into its challenge game against Southeast Missouri, but the visiting Redhawks cooled off the Lady Racers, holding MSU to 36.7-percent shooting in SEMO's 67-61 win. With that loss, Murray State (9-4, 6-1 OVC) is now in a tie for first with the Redhawks (11-4, 6-1) in the OVC standings.
The loss halted a seven-game win streak for MSU -- just one win short of the school record -- and extended SEMO's win streak to eight games. Murray State also saw an eight-game home win streak come to an end.
Southeast Missouri pushed out to an early 9-3 lead, but Murray State went on an 8-0 run, using a jumpshot by Alaina Lee, two layups by Joi Scott and a jumper by Shaleea Petty to get an 11-9 lead. The score was tied seven times in the first half, and Murray State close the first period on a 5-1 run to take a 25-21 lead at halftime.
Both teams played a tenacious defense in the first half, as the Lady Racers held SEMO to 26.7-percent shooting (8-for-30) in the first half and the Redhawks contained MSU at 33.3-percent (9-for-27) shooting in the first period. Murray State had 11 points from Scott in the first half. None of SEMO's players had more than five points at the half, but Lachelle Lyles -- the nation's leading rebounder -- had 12 boards at the break.
Southeast Missouri came out with more of the same in the second half, and when the Lady Racers didn't respond, the Redhawks took advantage. Trailing 37-35 with 11:03 left in regulation, SEMO went on a 16-2 run, capped by 10 unanswered points to take a 51-39 lead with 4:47 remaining. The teams exchanged baskets, giving the Redhawks a 55-43 lead with 3:17 remaining, before the Lady Racers went on a run of their own, using two free throws by Paige Guffey, a three from Amber Guffey and a layup by Lee, to pull to within 55-50 with 1:14 left.
After an exchange of scores, a three-pointer by Paige Guffey got Murray State to within 59-55 with 50 seconds left. The Lady Racers fouled, and SEMO's Rachel Blunt hit two free throws to push the Redhawk lead to 61-55. MSU missed two shots on its next possession, then fouled Tarina Nixon, who made both of her shots to push the lead to 63-55 with 31 seconds left. A missed three by MSU, and the home team again fouled, with Lyles making one of her two free-throw attempts to get the Redhawks out to a 64-55 lead with 22 ticks left.
Paige Guffey hit a three with 15 seconds left to pull the Lady Racers to within 64-58 and quickly fouled Nixon, who hit one of her two shots from the line, making it 65-58 with 10 seconds remaining. Jenny Petrie hit a three to pull Murray State to within 65-61, but Nixon hit two more free throws with five seconds left to ice the game.
"We didn't come out aggressively in the second half," said MSU head coach Joi Felton. "The keys to this game were rebounding and defense, and our defense was poor in the second half. We played some zone, and they came down the lane for some easy layups. We were just real tentative.
"There are some positives to take from this game, lessons that we can learn, and I'm glad it happened now instead of in March.
"We have a lot of respect for SEMO," she said. "They are a good ball club, but we treated this game like all the others we've played: we had a scouting report and worked on our game plan this week. I am more concerned about with how we're playing more than where we are in the standings."
Murray State was led by Scott, who had a co-game-high 19 points on 7-for-7 shooting from the line to go with a co-game-high four steals. Paige Guffey added 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field, while Lee had 10 points and six rebounds.
Petty had a team-high seven rebounds and a game-high six assists to go with a co-game-high four steals.
Southeast Missouri was led by Sonya Daugherty's 19 points off the bench on 7-for-9 shooting from the field. Nixon added 14 points, going 7-for-8 from the line, while Ashley Lovelady had 12 points and Lyles had 10 points to go with a game-high 18 rebounds and team-high four assists.
Murray State visits Austin Peay (5-10, 4-2 OVC), which is riding a three-game win streak, on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
