Murray State University Athletics
Lady Racers Open Three-Game Homestand On Thursday
2/7/2007 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State Lady Racers went through one of the harshest schedule gauntlets in recent memory -- playing five games over 10 days at hostile environments at Tennessee Tech, Southeast Missouri, Samford and Jacksonville State with a home match-up against Austin Peay -- and when the dust had settled, they found themselves tied for second place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, just one game behind first-place Morehead State. The schedule is much more friendly from here to the end of the regular season, as MSU has four of its last six games at home, beginning with a three-game homestand.
The Lady Racers (14-7, 10-4 OVC) welcome league rival Eastern Kentucky (9-14, 6-8 OVC) to the RSEC on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. The Lady Colonels are in eighth place, but just 1-1/2 games behind fourth place, and sport three wins over teams ranked ahead of them, including a sweep of Tennessee-Martin.
Murray State is second in the OVC with 72.7 points per game, but EKU is right behind them, in third at 72.3 ppg. The Lady Racers are first in free-throw percentage (.762), while the Lady Colonels are third (.731), and MSU is first in field-goal percentage (.456), while EKU is fourth (.427). Murray State are second in the OVC in three-point field-goal percentage (.364), and Eastern Kentucky is right behind in third (.347).
Murray State is led by senior forward Joi Scott, who leads the OVC in scoring (22.3 ppg), is third in rebounding (8.5 rpg), second in field-goal percentage (.579) and first in blocked shots (1.57 per game). Sophomore guard Amber Guffey is eighth in scoring (13.5 ppg), second in assists (4.29 per game), third in free-throw percentage (.835), third in three-point field-goal percentage (.415), third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.84) and fifth in three-pointers per game (2.10). Sophomore forward Ashley Nichole Hayes is 10th in the OVC in rebounding (6.5 rpg) and seventh in field-goal percentage (.495), while junior guard Shaleea Petty is tied for 10th in assists (3.19 per game) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.31). Sophomore guard Paige Guffey leads the OVC in three-point shooting (.449).
Eastern Kentucky is paced by Crystal Jones, who is fourth in the OVC in scoring (16.0 ppg), 15th in rebounding (5.6 rpg), second in steals (2.32 per game), third in assists (3.68 per game), seventh in free-throw shooting (.785), ninth in field-goal shooting (.481) and eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.13). Andrea Jenkins is 15th in scoring (11.7 ppg), 13th in rebounding (5.8 rpg) and third in field-goal shooting (.551). Ashley Cazee leads the OVC in steals (2.61 per game), while Niki Avery leads the OVC in three-pointers per game (2.70) and is tied for fourth in assists (3.57 per game).
"Their starting five is as good as anybody in our league," assistant coach Rob Cross said of Eastern Kentucky, "and they are a very, very dangerous team. They just lost a close ball game to Tennessee Tech yesterday, so they're going to try to get that taste out of their mouth when they come to Murray. We beat them on their court by 14 (89-75 on Dec. 7), and had a 21- or 22-point lead for most of the second half. I'm sure they remember that.
"(OVC Newcomer of the Week) Crystal Jones is one of the better guards in the league. She can just flat-out play. She's at the top of the league in steals, and she's averaging 16 points a game. She's an exceptional player. Niki Avery, their point guard, leads the league in three-pointers made per game, and she shoots it from 25, 26 feet. She'll shoot it from anywhere, so she's very dangerous, and she's awful quick. Inside, they have 6-3 and 6-2 long, athletic post players who do a great job for them (Andrea Jenkins, Amber Kirkpatrick and Shavonne Jones), as well as pre-season All-OVC guard Ashley Cazee."
Murray State tips off against Eastern Kentucky on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. The Lady Racers then host first-place Morehead State on Saturday at 5:15 p.m., then Tennessee State on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. All of these games can be heard locally on WNBS (1340 AM, Murray) or worldwide through the audio link at www.GoRacers.com. LiveStats is also available through that Web site, and video streaming is available through www.OVCsports.TV.
