Murray State University Athletics
Women Play Four Games In Eight Days -- Again
1/2/2008 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
For the second time in less than a month, the Murray State women's basketball team will play four games over an eight-day period. The Racers (9-3, 3-1 OVC) went into the holiday break playing four games over eight days from Dec. 15 to Dec. 22, opening that with a three-game road swing, but winning three of those four games.
MSU opens the 2008 calendar year with a game at Eastern Illinois on Thursday at 5 p.m. The Racers then return home to face Ohio Valley Conference rival Tennessee State on Saturday at 5:30 p.m., then travel to Southeast Missouri for a Monday 5 p.m. game before coming back to the Regional Special Events Center to host Austin Peay on Jan. 10 at 5:30 p.m.
Murray State takes on Eastern Illinois at a time when the Panthers have won their last five games, topping the OVC standings at 4-0. The Racers are just a game behind at 3-1 in league play, and have won seven of their last eight games.
"Eastern Illinois is on quite a run right now," said MSU head coach Jody Adams. "They are playing really well. They have had some players who were injured over that time who are back in action now (top scorers Jessica Huffman and Rachel Galligan). This will be a true test for us coming off of our Christmas break practices, to see what we've accomplished. It will be a tough battle.
"It's tough to play four games over eight days, especially for those players who play a lot of minutes. Our non-conference schedule (in December) was set up like that because we knew the conference schedule would do that later in the season, and in the tournament, we would play three games in less than a week, so this helps us prepare for that. We did that last month, so mentally, we know what to expect. We should be prepared for this stretch ahead of us."
Murray State is 18-9 against the Panthers all-time, having won the teams' last three meetings. Both teams are 6-6 in the series in EIU's Lantz Arena, with the Racers winning their last game there. EIU head coach Brady Sallee is 2-4 against MSU, but 2-1 against the Racers in Charleston. Murray State is 3-3 on the road this season, 1-1 in OVC road games, while EIU is 3-3 at home, 2-0 in OVC home games this season.
QUICK OUT OF THE GATE
Murray State is off to its second-best 12-game start ever at 9-3, second only to the 1987-88 team that opened 10-2. Head coach Jody Adams is off to the best start ever for a Murray State women's basketball head coach. To date, the fastest that an MSU first-year women's coach reached his 10th win at the school was Larry Wall (1989-91), who notched his 10th Murray State win in his 17th game.
TOE THE LINE
Murray State ranks second in NCAA Division I in free-throw percentage. The Racers are hitting 83.7 percent of their shots from the line, second only to Idaho State's 84.2-percent rate.
Murray State's starters make it hard to determine whom to foul late in the game, as the Racer starters are 141-for-164 (86 percent) from the line. The MSU bench doesn't make a much better target, hitting 71.9 percent of its free-throw attempts.
As a team, in the last four minutes of the game, Murray State has made 44 of its 53 attempts from the stripe (83 percent), while opponents are only 16-for-28 (57.1 percent). Junior guard Amber Guffey is 22-for-22 from the line in the last four minutes of the game.
A DYNAMIC DUO
Juniors Amber Guffey and Ashley Hayes have maintained their hold on top of the Ohio Valley Conference scoring list, as Guffey averages 19.3 points per game and Hayes comes in at 18.2 points per contest.
Their scoring prowess makes them the sixth-best scoring tandem in NCAA Division I this week, combining for 37.5 points per game. Utah Valley State's Robyn Fairbanks and Sandy Marvin top that list at 42.4 ppg, while Idaho State's Natalie Doma and Andrea Lightfoot are second at 39.5 ppg. Miami (Ohio)'s Amanda Jackson and Jenna Schone are third at 38.3 ppg, while Louisville's Angel McCoughtry and Candyce Bingham are fourth at 37.6 ppg, and Robert Morris's Sade Logan and Chinata Nesbit are fifth at 37.6 ppg.
Guffey and Hayes have each scored in double-figures in each game this season, and Guffey has scored in double-digits 47 times in her career, while Hayes has achieved the feat 46 times.
ALWAYS A NAIL-BITER AT EIU
In the 12 games that Murray State has played at Eastern Illinois, 10 have been decided by fewer than 10 points, including each of the last seven games played there. In MSU's six wins at Lantz Arena, the average score was 69.7-63.3, while in the Panthers' six wins against the Racers, the average score has been 63.3-56.5.
THIS WEEK IN RACER BASKETBALL
Murray State (9-3, 3-1 OVC) at Eastern Illinois (5-7, 4-0 OVC) :: Thursday, Jan. 3, 5:00 p.m.
Radio: WNBS (1340 AM, Murray, Josh Perigo)
Listen Live: www.GoRacers.com
Live Stats: http://livestats.internetconsult.com/eiu/wbball/
Video Streaming: www.OVCsports.tv
Tennessee State at Murray State :: Saturday, Jan. 5, 5:30 p.m.
Radio: WNBS (1340 AM, Murray, Josh Perigo)
Listen Live/Live Stats: www.GoRacers.com
Video Streaming: www.OVCsports.tv
Murray State at Southeast Missouri :: Monday, Jan. 7, 5:00 p.m.
Radio: WNBS (1340 AM, Murray, Josh Perigo)
Listen Live: www.GoRacers.com
Video Streaming: www.OVCsports.tv
