Racers Come-Back Effort Falls Short Against Evansville

Sunday, December 14

Evansville, Ind.

2 p.m.

Murray State

Evansville

Racers Come-Back Effort Falls Short Against Evansville

12/14/2008 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Despite being down by 21 points in the first half, the Murray State women's basketball team made a second-half push to end the game down just 52-57 to Evansville. The Racers (4-5, 1-1 Ohio Valley Conference) tied the game with 2:30 left, but strong free-throw shooting by the Purple Aces (6-3, 0-0 Missouri Valley) helped Evansville to the victory.

“We came back and put ourselves in a possession to win the game,” said head coach Rob Cross. “You just can't put yourself in a situation where you will have to play perfectly down the stretch.”

Senior Ashley Hayes led MSU with 21 points and nine rebounds, while fellow senior Amber Guffey added 19 points. Hayes had only scored two points at the half before coming on strong in the second with 19 points.

Evansville opened the game with strong defense holding the Racers scoreless until 15:12 remained in the opening half. Paige Guffey earned the first points in the game for MSU with a fast-break lay-up. Mallory Luckett stripped the ball away from Stephanie Bamberger and sent a pass down court to Paige Guffey for the lay-up. Evansville scored 13 points in the opening five minutes, while holding off the Racers.

The Purple Aces pushed the advantage on the scoreboard to 21 points with 7:50 left on the clock, 34-13. The Racers then picked up their defense and held Evansville scoreless for the remainder of the half. MSU's was not the only team with strong defense during the span, as the Purple Aces only allowed the Racers to garner seven points, including three from the free-throw line, to head into the locker room down 20-34.

Cold shooting plagued the MSU during the opening stanza, shooting just 17.6 percent (6-of-34) from the field and 10 percent (1-of-10) from beyond the arc. Rebounds were tied at the half at 21, but the Racers earned a nine to two advantage on the offensive side.

“Our whole team passed up to many wide open shots in the first half, leading to our 17 percent shooting percentage,” Cross added. “If you are taking your second or third opportunity to shoot the ball and you are then taking contested shots you are not going to shoot a high percentage.”

Evansville came out of the locker room shooting and opened the first two minutes with a 4-0 run. MSU then cut the lead to 10 with 14:15 remaining with a 4-0 run of its own, the Purple Aces then hit a three-pointer and converted on one free-throw on another possession in the next four minutes, while the Racers went on a 12-4 run to cut the advantage to six.

After the third media time-out of the second half (around 7:30 left) MSU started a 6-2 run over the next five minutes to tie the game at 48 with 2:30 left. The Purple Aces then earned the next basket to take a 50-48 lead. Evansville then tried to run as much time off the clock as possible the rest of the half and kept control of the ball with key offensive rebounds.

With 27.7 seconds remaining in the game the Purple Aces' Bamberger landed two free-throws and Evansville got the ball back because an intentional foul was called. The Purple Aces then got two more points at the charity stripe and control of the ball with a second intentional foul called on MSU. Amber Guffey then stole the ball on the inbound pass and ran the length of the court to cut the lead back to three.

Evansville made four more trips the free-throw line in the final seconds of the game as the Racers were forced to foul to gain control of the ball.

The second half saw much stronger shooting by MSU, as the Racers shot 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from the floor. However the Purple Aces did a good job eliminating the three-point shot for MSU, allowing just one in each half. Evansville struggled in the second half shooting, with only a 26.1 percent (6-of-23) mark.

The Racers will now return home for a two-game home stand. MSU will first face Alabama A&M, Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. before hosting Houston Baptist at 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 19.

Notes: The Racers ended the game with a 10 to five advantage on the offensive side of the rebounding chart, and with one more (37 to 36) in the game.

Quotes

Head Coach Rob Cross

“We out-scored them in the last seven minutes of the first half and we did a great job defensively during the stretch. Jana Roney came in and played a key role in that defense.”

“ Ashley Hayes got a look in her eye in the second half and we knew that we had to get her the ball.”

“This game was very similar to the Colorado State game. The difference is that Evansville is the defending Missouri Valley Conference Champions and a better team (no slight to Colorado State).”

“We did not play a full 40-minutes tonight and hopefully we won't see that same performance the next time out because Alabama A&M is a very athletic team.”

“We are looking forward to getting back home for a couple of games.”