Murray State
Tennessee State
Women's Home Win Streak Snapped Despite Comeback Bid
1/5/2008 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
After trailing by 17 at halftime and getting behind by 20 points three times in the second half, the Murray State women's basketball team forged ahead, erasing the 20-point deficit in 10-1/2 minutes to force overtime. In the extra period, though, TSU's defense prevailed, as the Racers fell 90-85. The loss ended MSU's 11-game home win streak.
In the first half, Murray State (9-5, 3-3 OVC) was held to 8-for-29 (27.6 percent) shooting by Tennessee State's physical defense. The Lady Tigers (6-7, 3-1 OVC) were able to work the ball inside often, as well as hit the mid-range jumper. Murray State scored the first three points of the game, but after the Racers took a 5-4 lead, the Lady Tigers went on a 15-2 run, pushing out to a 19-7 lead with 12:15 left in the half. The Racers were able to hold the lead in the low teens, but after senior center Angela Brown hit two free throws to cut the lead to 33-24 with 2:04 left in the period, TSU scored the last eight points of the half to take a 41-24 lead into the locker room at the half.
In the second half, Tennessee State was able to push the lead to 20 points three times, the latest coming when Tiffany Jackson hit a jumper to give TSU a 57-37 lead with 13:20 left in regulation. That's when the Racers made one of the best comebacks in team history.
A three-pointer by junior guard Paige Guffey got things rolling, followed by a trey from junior guard Amber Guffey. TSU's Obiageli Okafor went 1-for-2 in two separate trips to the free-throw line, but a jumpshot by senior guard Alaina Lee erased those two points, making it 59-45 with 10:48 remaining in regulation. A layup by Kendra Appling gave TSU a boost of confidence, but that was short-lived, as Amber Guffey made another three-pointer and Lee made another jumper to get MSU within single-digits at 61-52 with 8:23 left in regulation.
Jackson made a jumper for the Lady Tigers, but Guffey hit two free throws to keep the deficit below 10 points at 63-54. Junior guard/forward Ashley Hayes hit a basket to cut the lead to 63-56, but Jackson and Okafor each hit baskets to push the lead back out to 67-56. A jumper by Lee and two more free throws by Amber Guffey trimmed it back to a seven-point difference at 67-60 with 5:18 left, but a Jackson basket, two free throw by Amber Guffey and a bucket by Okafor kept the score at 71-62 with 4:33 remaining.
Hayes made two free throws, then senior guard Gerraca Matthews hit two free throws to make it 71-66 with 3:56 remaining. A free throw by Obiageli halted the run, but only temporarily, as Amber Guffey scored a three-point play, then hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 72-72 with 2:55 remaining. A trey from Kendra Appling gave TSU the lead back, but a layup by Matthews and a jumpshot by Amber Guffey gave Murray State its first lead since early in the first half at 78-77 with 1:39 left. Amber Guffey hit another layup to push the Racer lead to 80-77, but a layup by Jackson cut it to one. Matthews hit one of two free-throw attempts with 15 seconds left, and a layup by Okafor with three seconds left tied the game at 81-81 and forced overtime.
In erasing the 20-point second-half deficit, Murray State outscored Tennessee State 35-15 over a period of 10:25. In that run, Amber Guffey scored 18 points, going 4-for-7 from the field and 7-for-7 from the line. The Racers went 10-for-21 from the field in that run, going 4-for-9 from three-point range and a perfect 11-for-11 from the line.MSU grabbed 14 rebounds (five from Hayes, three from senior guard Shaleea Petty) and made three steals in making the comeback.
Guffey scored 29 points in the second half, going 9-for-14 from the field and 7-for-7 from the line in the half. Hayes grabbed seven second-half rebounds, while Petty had four second-half assists. The Racers shot 20-for-38 (52.6 percent) from the field in the second half, but were unable to slow TSU's shooting, as the Lady Tigers went 16-for-29 (55.2 percent) from the floor in the second half. MSU forced eight TSU turnovers in the second half while committing only three.
In the overtime period, Murray State's shooting woes continued, as the Racers went 1-for-8 from the floor in the extra period. Lee opened the extra frame by making one of two free-throw attempts to give MSU a quick lead, but Okafor hit a layup to give Tennessee State the lead. The Racers continued to foul the Lady Tigers -- ranked 11th in the OVC and fifth-from-last in Division I in free-throw shooting -- and TSU hit only three of its 11 overtime free-throw attempts, but MSU was unable to counter with any production on the floor, finally ending its odyssey with a 90-85 loss.
"I thought that second-half comeback was great," said MSU head coach Jody Adams. "There is no doubt that Amber Guffey put us on her back and carried us through that. The way we started the ball game, though, showed a lack of leadership and failing to do the little things. We're going to have to work through that. We've got to start aggressively against teams."
Murray State was led by Amber Guffey's 37 points, an arena women's basketball record, besting the 36 points scored by Monika Gadson against Austin Peay on Dec. 10, 2000. It is the most for a Racer since Joi Scott put in 43 points against Tennessee State on Feb. 16, 2006, and is the third-most points by a Racer guard, behind 40 points scored by Jennifer Parker (Jan. 22, 1994) and the 38 points scored three times by Sheila Smith and by Parker. Guffey's 37 points is the first time for any player to score that amount, and ranks eighth on MSU's all-time single-game scoring list.
Against TSU, Amber Guffey grabbed a career-high-tying seven rebounds, had a co-team-high five assists and a co-game-high three steals. Hayes put in 12 points and had a team-high nine rebounds, while Paige Guffey added 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the field. Brown grabbed six rebounds, while Petty had five assists, a game-high two blocked shots and two steals.
Tennessee State was led by Okafor's 31 points on 13-for-21 shooting and 12 rebounds. Appling added 26 points to go with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Jackson had 16 points to go with nine rebounds. LaDona Pierce handed out 11 assists, tying an RSEC record.
Murray State's 11-game home win streak was the second-longest -- dating back to the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons, when the Racers won 12 straight games in Racer Arena -- and is an arena record. It ranked eighth in the nation.
Murray State has little time to rest, as the Racers visit Southeast Missouri (9-5, 4-1 OVC) on Monday at 5 p.m. at the Show Me Center. SEMO beat OVC leader Eastern Illinois 55-51 tonight in Charleston, Ill.
