Murray State
Eastern Kentucky
Lady Racers Clinch Tournament Berth With 75-62 Win
2/8/2007 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State Lady Racers (15-7, 11-4 OVC) brought themselves into a three-way tie for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference and clinched a berth in the O'Reilly OVC Championship Tournament with a 75-62 win over visiting Eastern Kentucky (9-15, 6-9 OVC). The win also tied the school record for single-season OVC wins.
The game was scoreless, with each team playing a deliberate offense, until EKU's Crystal Jones hit a layup with 17:43 remaining in the first half. That sparked an early 8-0 run by the Lady Colonels until junior guard Alaina Lee popped in a three with 16:10 left. That sparked a 9-0 Lady Racer run that got them back in the game and gave them the lead when senior forward Joi Scott put in a layup with 13:22 remaining. That run kicked off a 13-2 MSU stretch, giving the Lady Racers a 13-10 lead when Scott hit a layup with 12:06 left in the half.
Eastern Kentucky responded, going on a 7-2 run to take a 17-15 lead when Ashley Cazee hit a coast-to-coast layup with 9:22 remaining. The teams battled back and forth until Murray State took control at the end of the half, using an 8-2 run over the last 2:43 to take a 37-29 lead at halftime.
MSU shot 51.9 percent (14-for-27) from the field in the first half, while Eastern Kentucky shot 40 percent (12-for-30). The Lady Racers were 7-for-10 (70 percent) from the line in the opening period, while the Lady Colonels were 3-for-4. Murray State had an uncharacteristic 13 turnovers at the intermission to Eastern Kentucky's seven. MSU had 12 turnovers in its game at Jacksonville State and six in its last home game against Austin Peay. The Lady Racers out-rebounded Eastern Kentucky 23-10 in the first half.
Scott led all scorers at intermission, scoring 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field. Sophomore forward Ashley Nichole Hayes grabbed nine rebounds in the first 20 minutes, almost equaling EKU's 10 boards. Sophomore guard Amber Guffey handed out five assists in the first half.
Niki Avery led EKU with eight points at the half on 3-for-5 shooting, going 2-for-4 behind the arc in the first half. Andrea Jenkins had a team-high five rebounds.
Eastern Kentucky opened the second half as it did the first, using a 6-0 run to pull to within 37-35. The Lady Racers responded in kind, using a 9-1 run to jump out to a 46-36 lead, capped with a free throw by Lee with 14:15 remaining in regulation.
Murray State pushed out to a 58-38 lead when sophomore guard Paige Guffey hit a three with no time left on the shot clock with 10:57 left in the second half. The Lady Racers were able to maintain a double-digit lead for the rest of the game.
Murray State won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the Lady Colonels 39-22.
"This is probably the first time all year where we controlled the boards," said MSU head coach Joi Felton. "I'm proud of our rebounding effort. It was a very big positive for us.
"I was concerned with the number of turnovers we had. We had 13 in the first half, and we try to keep it to 12 or less in each game. What we need to do is be more decisive and execute a lot better. I am proud of the way we defended our home court."
Scott finished with her ninth double-double of the season, scoring 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, both game-highs. Scott was 11-for-16 from the field and grabbed eight defensive rebounds.
Lee added 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field and handed out four assists. Hayes had 10 rebounds in the game, including seven on the defensive end, marking her fourth game of the season with 10 or more boards and her ninth game with at least nine rebounds. Guffey handed out a game-high eight assists for the third time in the last four games.
For Eastern Kentucky, Jones had a game-high 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field, while Cazee put in 14 points on 7-for-13 shooting. Jenkins finished with a team-high eight rebounds and a game-high three steals, while Avery had a team-high five assists with no turnovers.
Murray State continues this three-game homestand on Saturday when the Lady Racers host OVC co-leader Morehead State at 5:15 p.m. That game can be heard locally on WNBS (1340 AM, Murray) or worldwide through the audio link at www.GoRacers.com. That Web site also features Live Stats, and video streaming is available through www.OVCsports.TV.
