Murray State
Delaware
Women's Basketball Makes Delaware's Hens Blue, 62-46
11/25/2007 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State women's basketball team had four players score in double-figures, shooting 11-for-18 from three-point range to beat Delaware 62-46 in the consolation game of the UTC Panera Bread Challenge.
The Racers (3-2) jumped out to a 12-2 lead, as senior guard Alaina Lee opened the scoring with a three-pointer, followed by a trey from senior guard Shaleea Petty and a three-point play "the hard way" (basket and free throw) and a three-point basket from junior guard Amber Guffey. However, Delaware (1-5) was undaunted by the quick beginning, scoring the next eight points to close to within 12-10 with 9:52 left in the first half. The Fightin' Blue Hens took a brief lead, 16-15, with 5:36 left in the opening period, but a layup by senior center Angela Brown gave MSU the lead back, and a layup by junior guard/forward Ashley Nichole Hayes pushed the Murray lead out to 19-16. Delaware's Corinthia Benison hit a basket to narrow the gap to 19-18, but a bucket by Hayes and a three-pointer from junior guard Paige Guffey just before the halftime buzzer gave MSU a 24-18 lead at intermission.
Delaware's Vanessa Kabongo hit a basket to open the second half, but the Racers completed a 10-2 run from the first half with a layup by Brown and a three from Amber Guffey, giving MSU a 29-20 lead with 18:29 left in regulation. Leading 35-27 with 15:24 left to play, the Racers scored the next seven points on back-to-back jumpers by Hayes and a trey from Petty to push the lead out to 42-27. Murray State maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the game to the 62-46 finish.
"Delaware came out in the second half and made some adjustments to our offense," said MSU head coach Jody Adams. "I am proud of our players for the way they stepped up and adjusted to that."
"I'm satisfied with the way we shot the ball. We knew that Amber Guffey, Shaleea Petty, Alaina Lee and Ashley Hayes would have to step up for us. Those were four that I kept with me after our team meeting last night and asked them to step up and be leaders. The bottom line was that we didn't want to leave here without winning. I have to give a lot of credit to those four. They got it done."
Murray State was led by Amber Guffey's game-high 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field, going 4-for-7 from behind the arc. She also grabbed five rebounds and handed out five assists. Hayes added 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for her third straight game with a double-double. Petty put in 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting from three-point range and had a game-high six assists, while Lee scored 11 points on 3-for-3 shooting from the field and from the line, handing out four assists and swiping two steals.
Delaware was led by Kabongo and Ethlynne Thomas, who each had 10 points. Jamie Mundy had a team-high eight rebounds, while Kabongo had three steals and Kyle DeHaven had three steals.
Amber Guffey was named to the all-tournament team from Murray State, averaging 18.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in the tourney. She shot 11-for-24 (45.8 percent) from the field and 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) from three-point range, going 8-for-9 (88.9 percent) from the line. Others named to the all-tournament team included tournament MVP Angel McCoughtry and Candyce Bingham of Louisville, Alex Anderson and Brooke Hand of tournament host Tennessee-Chattanooga, and Kabongo of Delaware.
In the tournament, Hayes averaged 12.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, while Lee and Petty each average 10.5 points per game. Lee was 8-for-12 (66.7 percent) from the field, while Petty shot 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) from the field, going 5-for-10 from three-point range. She also averaged 4.0 assists per game.
Murray State returns home to host Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Regional Special Events Center.
