Murray State University Athletics
Lady Racers To Close Out Regular Season At UTM
2/23/2007 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
They made it to the O'Reilly Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament. They earned the right to host the first-round game. They set school records for single-season conference wins, among others. The Lady Racers have acheived so much this season. What is there left on the Lady Racers' list?
Championships. Murray State (19-7, 15-4 OVC) still has yet to bring home OVC hardware, and the journey on the road to the regular-season title is far from over, as MSU has one final hurdle at Tennessee-Martin on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Skyhawks (15-13, 9-10 OVC) are 9-1 against OVC teams in Skyhawk Arena, having beaten every other OVC team except for Eastern Kentucky, taking down OVC co-leader Southeast Missouri State 61-54 on Feb. 3 in Martin. If Murray State wants at least a share of the OVC regular-season crown, it will have to win where only one other OVC team has won this season or hope that co-leader SEMO (20-7, 15-4 OVC) loses at Jacksonville State (7-21, 4-15 OVC) on Saturday.
"There's a lot riding on this game," said MSU head coach Joi Felton. "Tennessee-Martin is also playing for seeding, and we are playing for at least a share of the OVC championship. We've got to stay focused for all 40 minutes, and that's a tough place to play. Martin has done an outstanding job all year on their home court, and we respect that. We know that the game is going to come down to defense and rebounds. We've got to go in ready to play and meet their aggressiveness and intensity.
"For Martin, it doesn't matter who's in; they're all good players. Andreika Jackson is out, and they've done a good job over the last few games of stepping up and filling her shoes. I know they're going to be excited. It's their Senior Night, so emotions will be high. We need to stay sharp on defense and execute our game plan."
Murray State's Joi Scott was injured in the Lady Racers' last game on Thursday with an knee injury. She is listed as day-to-day.
