Murray State
Eastern Illinois
Women's Basketball Falls In Defensive Battle, 62-59
1/3/2008 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State women's basketball team fought a tough defensive battle against homestanding Eastern Illinois tonight, but the Panthers were able to hold on for the 62-59 win in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Both teams played an aggressive defense, with the Racers (9-4, 3-2 OVC) playing a full-court pressure defense for almost the entire game and the Panthers playing a midcourt trap along with a tenacious defense against the MSU shooters.
Early in the game, with the score tied at 2-2, Eastern Illinois (6-7, 5-0 OVC) went on a 9-0 run to vault out to an 11-2 lead. Back-to-back free throws by junior guard Amber Guffey and a jumper by junior guard/forward Ashley Hayes trimmed the deficit to 11-6. After a layup by Rachel Galligan, Guffey hit a layup and senior guard Alaina Lee put in a basket to bring MSU to within 13-10 with 12:58 left in the first half. EIU was able to get out to an eight-point lead three more times in the half, but the Racers were able to keep it close, closing the first period with a three-pointer and a layup by senior guard Shaleea Petty to trail 31-29 at the half.
Eastern Illinois opened the second half with a 5-0 spurt to take a 38-29 lead, but a jumper by Hayes, a basket by senior center Angela Brown, another two from Hayes and a basket by Petty trimmed the EIU lead to 38-37 with 12:10 left in regulation. Galligan hit another basket, but a layup by Guffey and a tip-in by Brown gave Murray State its first lead of the game with 9:15 remaining.
The lead seesawed, and MSU took a 45-44 lead on a jumper by Lee with 7:07 left when the Panthers went on another run, scoring the next seven points and leading 52-47 with 4:59 remaining. A lay-in by Lee and a steal and basket by Hayes trimmed that lead to 52-49 with 3:47 left. After a jumper by Galligan, Hayes hit a three-pointer to pull the Racers to within 54-52 with 3:07 remaining. Galligan hit yet another layup and Hayes made two free throws to give EIU a 56-54 advantage with 1:51 left.
After a Racer turnover, Galligan hit a bucket to extend the Panther lead to four with 36 seconds left, and after missing its shot on the next possession, Murray State was forced to foul. Having committed only four fouls in the half, the Racers made three fouls in two seconds to force bonus free throws on Eastern Illinois with 18 seconds left. Megan Edwards made her two shots to give EIU a 60-54 lead, and on the next MSU possession, Guffey got a basket to cut that lead to 60-56 with 12 seconds left. Murray State again fouled, and Ashley Thomas made her two shots to give the Panthers a 62-56 lead with 11 seconds left. Junior guard Paige Guffey hit a long-distance three to trim the lead to 62-59, but EIU did a good job of keeping the ball away from the Racer defenders, and time ran out.
"I thought this was a good test for us," said MSU head coach Jody Adams. "No doubt, we played a heck of a team. We had a couple of miscues coming out of timeouts and out of transition, and that's something you can't have, playing a team like this. We made some mistakes and missed some huge opportunities to score late in the game, but other than that, our game plan was right on. Our guards did a good job of playing the full 94 feet all night."
Murray State was led by Amber Guffey, who had 16 points, going 6-for-14 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line. She also had a team-high three assists and a game-high three steals. Hayes added 15 points on 7-for-15 shooting from the field to go with five rebounds. Brown pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for the Racers -- seven of which came in the second half -- and had a game-high three blocked shots. Petty had nine points and five rebounds to go with two steals, and Lee had nine points and two assists.
Eastern Illinois was led by Galligan's 27 points off the bench on 12-for-17 shooting, going 7-for-10 in the second half. Lindsey Kluempers added 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field. Maggie Kloak had a team-high seven rebounds, while Edwards had a game-high eight assists.
Murray State returns home and seeks to extend its 11-game home win streak with an OVC game against Tennessee State. Tipoff is set for Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in the Regional Special Events Center.
