Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Missouri
Women's Basketball Battles, Falls At Missouri
11/9/2007 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Late in the first half, it looked like the Murray State women's basketball team would be next in the ever-growing list of giant killers in collegiate athletics, but host Missouri would not play the victim, coming from behind and holding off a late Racer run in MSU's 73-64 loss in both teams' season-opener.
Murray State used a fast-paced game on both ends of the floor to forge a 24-16 lead when junior guard/forward Ashley Hayes hit two free throws with 6:27 left in the first half. Missouri then turned up the pressure, playing more physically to score the next 10 unanswered points to take a 31-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Racers committed 12 first-half turnovers to the Tigers' four.
In the second half, junior guard Jessica Jackson hit a three to open the scoring and pull MSU to within 31-30. Missouri's Shakara Jones hit two free throws to push the Tiger lead back up to 33-30, but junior guard Amber Guffey hit a layup to pull the Racers back within one. Missouri's Jessra Johnson then hit back-to-back baskets to push the Tigers ahead even further.
Missouri got out to as much as a 15-point lead, 55-40, with 10:07 left in regulation and led 59-47 when MSU mounted a comeback. Guffey hit a three and a jumpshot to pull the Racers to within seven, but Missouri pulled back out. The Tigers led 70-59 with three minutes left, but neither team scored for the next two minutes. Junior guard Paige Guffey hit a three with a minute left, then Amber Guffey nailed a layup to bring Murray State to within 70-64 with 21 seconds left. Senior guard Shaleea Petty fouled Toy Richbow, and she made one of two free-throw attempts. Petty got the rebound, but MSU had the ball stolen with six seconds left. Missouri hit a buzzer-beating layup for the final 73-64 score.
"In our practices, it's tough to emulate the size and caliber of players like Missouri has," said MSU first-year head coach Jody Adams. "I thought we gave a good effort. They knew our weakness, the post, and that's where they went at us. They had 6-1 players guarding our 5-3 guards. Give Jones and Johnson all the credit. They played us tough."
Murray State was led by Amber Guffey, who had 25 points on 10-for-20 shooting, going 3-for-6 from behind the arc. Hayes added 17 points and nine rebounds, with eight of those coming from the defensive end. Senior guard/forward Gerraca Matthews had five rebounds, with three of those coming on the offensive end. Murray State out-rebounded Missouri 36-35.
Missouri was paced by 27 points and 14 rebounds from Shakara Jones, who shot 11-for-14 from the field and had 10 defensive rebounds. Johnson added 21 points and eight rebounds, going 9-for-13 from the field. Richbow had game-highs with three assists and five steals.
Murray State will play its regular-seaosn home-opener on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Bethel (Tenn.) in the Regional Special Events Center.
