Murray State University Athletics
Women's Basketball To Host Austin Peay
1/9/2008 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State women's basketball team's fifth-oldest Division I rivalry continues Thursday night, as the Racers host Austin Peay at 5:30 p.m. in the Regional Special Events Center. Older rivalries include UT Martin (1928-29), Western Kentucky (1928-29), Memphis (1928-29) and Tennessee Tech (1930-31). Murray State first met Austin Peay on Feb. 21, 1931, in MSU's Lovett Auditorium, with the Lady Thoroughbreds taking the 45-23 win. Now in its 41st season of women's basketball, Murray State leads the series 38-34, with a 25-11 advantage in home games.
Murray State (10-5, 4-3 OVC) is coming off of an exciting 71-68 win at Southeast Missouri, the Ohio Valley Conference pre-season favorite, on Monday. The Racers had as much as a 20-point lead late in the first half, and held off a late SEMO rally for their first win in Cape Girardeau since Feb. 12, 2000.
Austin Peay (4-10, 1-4 OVC) is on a seven-game skid, falling to league-leading Eastern Illinois 74-52 on Monday in Clarksville, Tenn. The Racers cannot take the Lady Govs lightly, as APSU has won three of the last four games against MSU, including the last two meetings in the RSEC.
After this game, Murray State will take more than a week off -- quite a change after back-to-back periods of playing four games over eight days -- and will resume play on Saturday, Jan. 19, at UT Martin.
THE GAME
Austin Peay Lady Govs (4-10, 1-4 OVC) at Murray State Racers (10-5, 4-3 OVC)
Thursday, Jan. 10, 5:30 p.m., Regional Special Events Center (Tickets: (270) 809-4895)
Radio: WNBS (1340 AM, Josh Perigo)
Listen Live: www.GoRacers.com
Live Stats: Click Here
Video Streaming: www.OVCsports.tv
FROM THE NOTES (Notes link)
Juniors Ashley Hayes and Amber Guffey are on pace not only to reach their 1,000-point milestone this season, but to reach it in the same game. Hayes now has 952 career points, while Guffey has 942. If they each maintain their current scoring rates -- 17.2 points per game for Hayes and 20.3 ppg for Guffey -- they will each score their 1,000th career point on Jan. 24 at home against Tennessee Tech. MSU women's basketball has 15 members in its 1,000-Point Club, the most recent inductee being Rebecca Remington (2001-05).
Seniors Alaina Lee, Gerraca Matthews and Alaina Lee are also pursuing milestones, as they are each on pace to play at least 100 games in their four-year careers with the Navy and Gold. Lee has played in 97 career games thus far, while Matthews and Petty have each played in 95. Some 25 women's basketball players have played in 100 or more games at Murray State. Petty ranks eighth on MSU's career starts list, having started in 94 games at Murray State. The record is 114 starts for Sheila Smith (1985-89), but only four Racers thus far have started in more than 100 games: Smith, Julie PInson (105, 1988-92), Michelle Wenning (103, 1987-91) and Eniko Verebes (101, 1998-2002).
With five three-point baskets at Southeast Missouri, Amber Guffey passed Ashley Brooke Hayes (2003-07) into the top spot on the MSU career three-pointers per game list. Guffey now averages 1.57 treys over her career thus far, while Hayes finished her four-year career with a 1.55 three-pointer-per-game average. Guffey is fourth on the career three-pointers list with 116 treys, just 27 behind record-holder Ashley Brooke Hayes.
Murray State still ranks second in the nation in free-throw shooting, according to the NCAA statistics report issued Jan. 6, the first report since Dec. 16. The Racers are hitting their free throws at an 82.1-percent rate, second only to Idaho State's rate of 84.1 percent. Amber Guffey ranks 10th nationally in that category, hitting 90.3 percent of her free throws. She is also 13th in Division I with 20.3 points per game, while Ashley Hayes is 18th with 10.2 rebounds per game. Both lead those categories in the OVC.
THURSDAY NIGHT IN THE OVC
Eastern Kentucky (8-4, 3-2 OVC) at Morehead State (4-10, 2-4 OVC), 4:15 p.m. CT
UT Martin (3-12, 0-5 OVC) at Eastern Illinois (7-8, 6-1 OVC), 5:00 p.m. CT
Tennessee State (7-7, 4-1 OVC) at Samford (10-5, 3-2 OVC), 5:30 p.m. CT
Tennessee Tech (2-13, 1-4 OVC) at Jacksonville State (6-9, 3-3 OVC), 5:30 p.m. CT
Southeast Missouri (9-6, 4-2 OVC) is idle.
