Murray State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Opens OVC Action at Eastern Kentucky
12/2/2008 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Game
The Murray State women's basketball team continues its longest road stand of the season with the first Ohio Valley Conference game of the year when they travel to Richmond, Ky., to face Eastern Kentucky. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. (CST), Thursday, Dec. 4 in McBrayer Arena.
About Eastern Kentucky
The Colonels head into the start of the conference season with a 2-3 overall record. EKU opened the season with wins over Ohio Valley University and Chicago State, but has lost its last three outings.
There is one player on this seasons roster averaging more than 10 points per game. Freshman Kayla Drake is netting 19.6 points per outing and is a starter for the Colonels. She is shooting 33.3 percent from the floor and 27.1 percent from beyond the arc. The Kokomo, Ind., native has also recorded 16 steals in five games, but has coughed up the ball 26 times.
Sophomore Cherie White and junior Colette Cole are the team's leading rebounders with 6.6 and 6.4 boards per game, respectively. Cole is also second on the team with 9.0 points per game and first on the team with her three blocks.
EKU is shooting 33 percent (98-of-297) from the field, with 31 of its 98 shots made coming from three-point range. The Colonels opponents are averaging 38.3 percent shooting. EKU has made 66 of its 83 free throws (79.5%), while its opponents have connected on 86 of their 132 attempts from the charity stripe (65.2%). Ball control has been a problem for both the Colonels and their opponents, with 24.2 turnovers for EKU and 23.0 for its opponents per game.
Another key for the Racers could be blocked shots. The Colonels are allowing 4.4 blocks per game, while MSU is averaging 2.2 per outing.
EKU has struggled more in the first half than in the second. The Colonels are being out-scored by their opponents by 22 points in the opening stanza and only by 12 in the second 20-minutes of play.
Against the Colonels
Seniors Ashley Hayes and Amber Guffey led MSU with 48 and 40 points, respectively in the series split with EKU last season. Hayes also added 19 rebounds and two blocks, while shooting 48.7 percent (19-of-39) from the field. Amber Guffey added five rebounds and was a perfect 14-of-14 from the free-throw line for the Racers. Paige Guffey added 10 points and two rebounds.
As a team MSU shot 42.6 percent (55-of-129) from the field, 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from beyond the arc, and tallied 37.5 rebounds per game. The Colonels shot 43.5 percent (50-of-115) from the floor and 45 percent (9-of-20) from three-point range.
None of the returning EKU players to the 2008-09 roster played significant time against the Racers last season. Nadia Mossong is the top scorer of the few returners with one point in both games.
The Series
The all-time series currently stands at 48-25 in favor of EKU, but the Racers have gone 5-2 in the last three seasons. The Colonels earned the last victory, Feb. 7, 2008 in Richmond, Ky., 79-76. The last MSU victory at EKU was Dec. 7, 2006 when the Racers earned an 89-75 win.
Free-Throw Frenzy
For the past four seasons, MSU has been knocking down a high percentage of shots from the charity stripe. Their effort to do so has paid off, as the Racers are currently ranked No. 1 among NCAA Division I teams in free-throw percentage. MSU has made 83.6 percent (133-of-159) of its free throws during the 2008-09 campaign. Air Force is second in the national standings with a 83.1 percent mark.
MSU finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked No. 3 in the same category, while the team was ninth in 2006-07, and 14th in 2005-06.
Individually the Racers have two players ranked in the top-100 in free-throw percentage. Paige Guffey leads the team and the OVC with 97.0 percent, having missed only one of her 33 attempts. That ranks her 11th in the nation. Her twin sister Amber is the second member of the MSU roster ranked in the national free-throw standings at No. 80. Amber has hit 45 of her 52 attempts for a 86.5 percent mark. She finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked sixth in the country with a 86.1 free-throw percentage.
The MSU men's basketball team is currently ranked second in the nation for its 84.7 (100-of-118) free-throw percentage. There is one other team in the country with its men's and women's team ranked first and second in the same category. Sam Houston State's men's team is first in assists per game and the women are second. Both the men's and women's teams in North Carolina are ranked second in scoring offense, while Mississippi State is ranked No. 1 in blocks per game for both men and women.
You've Been Guffied
In the game against Colorado State the Guffey twins were two of the keys to victory for the Racers. Amber tallied a season-best 36 points, including 21 points in the opening 20 minutes of play. Paige added 14 points for MSU, while going 9-for-9 from the charity stripe.
The 50 points Amber and Paige combined for was well above the 24 points that the top two scorers for the Rams scored in the outing.
Guffey Grabbing Honors
After recording one point shy of a career-high against Colorado State and 52 points at the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational, Amber Guffey was named to the five-member Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational All-Tournament team. The Albany, Ky., native then added to her honors for the week by picking up the Racers' first OVC Player of the Week award for 2008-09.
The Lowe Down
Freshman Kayla Lowe had a good weekend at the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational. After recording a career-best three rebounds against No. 21 Florida State, the Pikeville, Ky., native netted five career highs against Colorado State. Lowe earned career bests with her eight points, five rebounds, two field goals made, two three-pointers made, and two free throws.
Lowe had already topped her career bests in the points and rebounding columns before the end of the first half and continued to add to them through the remainder of the game.
Racer Defense
MSU continued to show that they can be a very tough defensive team over the Thanksgiving weekend. The Racers recorded a season-best five team blocks against the Seminoles, while holding FSU to just two.
In the third-place game against CSU, MSU added three more blocks and helped the Rams into 22 turnovers. The defense then stepped up a notch in the second half of play. The Racers held the Rams without a field goal in the final 9:58 of the game, while only allowing them to earn four points at the free-throw line during the span. CSU was in the bonus during the time-frame, but the Racers recorded only two fouls.
Scoring Sensation
For the first time since 1988-89 the MSU women's basketball team recorded at least 100 points in two games in a single season, with their 100-68 win over Bethel and 103-53 win over Mid-Continent. This was the fourth time in school history that the Racers have tallied 100 or more points in a game in a single season. The 1988-89 team accomplished the feat three times, while the 1987-88 and 1981-82 squads did it twice.
The 103 points scored by MSU in the RSEC also set an arena record for the most points scored by a women's team in the building. The old record was 100 set in 2006 against Jacksonville State and tied this season against Bethel.
Making Moves
Seniors Ashley Hayes and Amber Guffey started the 2008-09 campaign as the ninth and 11th best scorers in MSU history. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Hayes leapt up to the No. 6 position on MSU's All-Time Scoring charts. She started the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational 13 points behind Stephanie Minor with 1,392 points. Hayes will now be aiming for the No. 5 spot held by Jackie Mounts with 1,421 points (just 20 more).
Guffey also made a move up the scoring charts with her 25 points against the Alabama State. She passed Karen Johnson for the No. 10 position on the scoring charts and now has 1,338 points. She will need four more to take the No. 8 spot from Monika Gadson (1,341 points).
NCAA Student-Athlete Blog
The NCAA started a new feature on its website for the 2008-09 season. The organization has chosen a student-athlete from each of the sponsored sports at each division to create a blog for the duration of the athlete's season. The NCAA asked the MSU women's basketball team to participate in the blog, and seniors Amber Guffey and Ashley Hayes have been uploading at least one blog entry per week since the beginning of the 2008-09 campaign.
The Guffey/Hayes Blog can be found as a link on www.GoRacers.com on the right-hand side of the women's basketball page.
Preseason Expectations
After finishing second in the regular season standings and defeating Eastern Illinois to claim the OVC Tournament Championship in 2007-08 the league coaches and sports information directors have picked Murray State to finish second in 2008-09.
“It really doesn't matter to me where we are ranked preseason,” Cross said. “Our league is very competitive and anyone of the teams can come out and perform well enough on any given night to win.”
Seniors Amber Guffey and Ashley Hayes also earned spots on the 2008-09 All-OVC Pre-season team. Hayes also earned the distinction of being picked the OVC Pre-Season Player of the Year.
“I am pleased for Amber and Ashley to earn those honors,” added Cross. “Being that both understand that pre-season awards are nice, but they do not guarantee success.”
Early Signing Period Successful
In his first season as head coach Rob Cross had no problems getting commitments for the 2009-10 campaign. Cross announced the signing of seven student-athletes Wednesday, Nov. 12.
The class has been ranked No. 54 in the nation by Blue Star Basketball and is one of a few non-BCS schools to make the list.
Cross signed:
Kayla Cunningham, F, 6-2, Calloway County (Ky.)
Tessa Elkins, G, 5-6, Lakota West (Ohio)
Jessica Holder, F, 6-2, Marshall County (Ky.)
Aubrey Minix, G, 5-9, Oregon-Davis (Ind.)
Candace Nevels, G, 5-9, Bolingbrook (Ill.)
Mariah Robinson, G, 5-8, Ohio County (Ky.)
Jessica Winfrey, F, 6-0, Marion (Ark.)
The group includes two local standouts (Cunningham, Holder), three recognized by ESPN.com (Elkins, Nevels, Winfrey), a player from the No. 2 ranked high school squad in the nation (Nevels), and five all-state honorees.
Challenging Road Ahead
The road to another trip to the OVC Championship game and to the NCAA Tournament will be tough again this season. MSU has nine non-conference games scheduled, including three against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2008. Those teams include Western Kentucky, Miami (Ohio), and Florida State, which advanced to the second round.
The Racers opened the season with a 78-95 loss to Western Kentucky, Nov. 14. Florida State was the next big test at the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational, with MSU losing 50-85.
Upcoming Schedule
The Racers will continue their road stand with the final OVC game of the 2008 portion of the season when they travel to Morehead State, Saturday, Dec. 6. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. (CST). The final game of the road swing will be at Evansville, Sunday, Dec. 14 at 2 p.m.
The final two games of the 2008 portion of the year will be contested in the RSEC. The first will be Wednesday, Dec. 17 against Alabama A&M at 7 p.m. The final game of 2008 is a 7 p.m. tip-off against Houston Baptist, Friday, Dec. 19.
Quick Plays
Senior Angela Mullins set a career best with her three blocks against Florida State...senior Paige Guffey added to her career-high six rebounds against Mid-Continent and tallied seven against the Seminoles...as a team the Racers had a season-best five blocks, including three from Mullins and one each from Paige Guffey and Ashley Hayes against FSU.
The Murray State women's basketball team continues its longest road stand of the season with the first Ohio Valley Conference game of the year when they travel to Richmond, Ky., to face Eastern Kentucky. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. (CST), Thursday, Dec. 4 in McBrayer Arena.
About Eastern Kentucky
The Colonels head into the start of the conference season with a 2-3 overall record. EKU opened the season with wins over Ohio Valley University and Chicago State, but has lost its last three outings.
There is one player on this seasons roster averaging more than 10 points per game. Freshman Kayla Drake is netting 19.6 points per outing and is a starter for the Colonels. She is shooting 33.3 percent from the floor and 27.1 percent from beyond the arc. The Kokomo, Ind., native has also recorded 16 steals in five games, but has coughed up the ball 26 times.
Sophomore Cherie White and junior Colette Cole are the team's leading rebounders with 6.6 and 6.4 boards per game, respectively. Cole is also second on the team with 9.0 points per game and first on the team with her three blocks.
EKU is shooting 33 percent (98-of-297) from the field, with 31 of its 98 shots made coming from three-point range. The Colonels opponents are averaging 38.3 percent shooting. EKU has made 66 of its 83 free throws (79.5%), while its opponents have connected on 86 of their 132 attempts from the charity stripe (65.2%). Ball control has been a problem for both the Colonels and their opponents, with 24.2 turnovers for EKU and 23.0 for its opponents per game.
Another key for the Racers could be blocked shots. The Colonels are allowing 4.4 blocks per game, while MSU is averaging 2.2 per outing.
EKU has struggled more in the first half than in the second. The Colonels are being out-scored by their opponents by 22 points in the opening stanza and only by 12 in the second 20-minutes of play.
Against the Colonels
Seniors Ashley Hayes and Amber Guffey led MSU with 48 and 40 points, respectively in the series split with EKU last season. Hayes also added 19 rebounds and two blocks, while shooting 48.7 percent (19-of-39) from the field. Amber Guffey added five rebounds and was a perfect 14-of-14 from the free-throw line for the Racers. Paige Guffey added 10 points and two rebounds.
As a team MSU shot 42.6 percent (55-of-129) from the field, 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from beyond the arc, and tallied 37.5 rebounds per game. The Colonels shot 43.5 percent (50-of-115) from the floor and 45 percent (9-of-20) from three-point range.
None of the returning EKU players to the 2008-09 roster played significant time against the Racers last season. Nadia Mossong is the top scorer of the few returners with one point in both games.
The Series
The all-time series currently stands at 48-25 in favor of EKU, but the Racers have gone 5-2 in the last three seasons. The Colonels earned the last victory, Feb. 7, 2008 in Richmond, Ky., 79-76. The last MSU victory at EKU was Dec. 7, 2006 when the Racers earned an 89-75 win.
Free-Throw Frenzy
For the past four seasons, MSU has been knocking down a high percentage of shots from the charity stripe. Their effort to do so has paid off, as the Racers are currently ranked No. 1 among NCAA Division I teams in free-throw percentage. MSU has made 83.6 percent (133-of-159) of its free throws during the 2008-09 campaign. Air Force is second in the national standings with a 83.1 percent mark.
MSU finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked No. 3 in the same category, while the team was ninth in 2006-07, and 14th in 2005-06.
Individually the Racers have two players ranked in the top-100 in free-throw percentage. Paige Guffey leads the team and the OVC with 97.0 percent, having missed only one of her 33 attempts. That ranks her 11th in the nation. Her twin sister Amber is the second member of the MSU roster ranked in the national free-throw standings at No. 80. Amber has hit 45 of her 52 attempts for a 86.5 percent mark. She finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked sixth in the country with a 86.1 free-throw percentage.
The MSU men's basketball team is currently ranked second in the nation for its 84.7 (100-of-118) free-throw percentage. There is one other team in the country with its men's and women's team ranked first and second in the same category. Sam Houston State's men's team is first in assists per game and the women are second. Both the men's and women's teams in North Carolina are ranked second in scoring offense, while Mississippi State is ranked No. 1 in blocks per game for both men and women.
You've Been Guffied
In the game against Colorado State the Guffey twins were two of the keys to victory for the Racers. Amber tallied a season-best 36 points, including 21 points in the opening 20 minutes of play. Paige added 14 points for MSU, while going 9-for-9 from the charity stripe.
The 50 points Amber and Paige combined for was well above the 24 points that the top two scorers for the Rams scored in the outing.
Guffey Grabbing Honors
After recording one point shy of a career-high against Colorado State and 52 points at the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational, Amber Guffey was named to the five-member Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational All-Tournament team. The Albany, Ky., native then added to her honors for the week by picking up the Racers' first OVC Player of the Week award for 2008-09.
The Lowe Down
Freshman Kayla Lowe had a good weekend at the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational. After recording a career-best three rebounds against No. 21 Florida State, the Pikeville, Ky., native netted five career highs against Colorado State. Lowe earned career bests with her eight points, five rebounds, two field goals made, two three-pointers made, and two free throws.
Lowe had already topped her career bests in the points and rebounding columns before the end of the first half and continued to add to them through the remainder of the game.
Racer Defense
MSU continued to show that they can be a very tough defensive team over the Thanksgiving weekend. The Racers recorded a season-best five team blocks against the Seminoles, while holding FSU to just two.
In the third-place game against CSU, MSU added three more blocks and helped the Rams into 22 turnovers. The defense then stepped up a notch in the second half of play. The Racers held the Rams without a field goal in the final 9:58 of the game, while only allowing them to earn four points at the free-throw line during the span. CSU was in the bonus during the time-frame, but the Racers recorded only two fouls.
Scoring Sensation
For the first time since 1988-89 the MSU women's basketball team recorded at least 100 points in two games in a single season, with their 100-68 win over Bethel and 103-53 win over Mid-Continent. This was the fourth time in school history that the Racers have tallied 100 or more points in a game in a single season. The 1988-89 team accomplished the feat three times, while the 1987-88 and 1981-82 squads did it twice.
The 103 points scored by MSU in the RSEC also set an arena record for the most points scored by a women's team in the building. The old record was 100 set in 2006 against Jacksonville State and tied this season against Bethel.
Making Moves
Seniors Ashley Hayes and Amber Guffey started the 2008-09 campaign as the ninth and 11th best scorers in MSU history. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Hayes leapt up to the No. 6 position on MSU's All-Time Scoring charts. She started the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational 13 points behind Stephanie Minor with 1,392 points. Hayes will now be aiming for the No. 5 spot held by Jackie Mounts with 1,421 points (just 20 more).
Guffey also made a move up the scoring charts with her 25 points against the Alabama State. She passed Karen Johnson for the No. 10 position on the scoring charts and now has 1,338 points. She will need four more to take the No. 8 spot from Monika Gadson (1,341 points).
NCAA Student-Athlete Blog
The NCAA started a new feature on its website for the 2008-09 season. The organization has chosen a student-athlete from each of the sponsored sports at each division to create a blog for the duration of the athlete's season. The NCAA asked the MSU women's basketball team to participate in the blog, and seniors Amber Guffey and Ashley Hayes have been uploading at least one blog entry per week since the beginning of the 2008-09 campaign.
The Guffey/Hayes Blog can be found as a link on www.GoRacers.com on the right-hand side of the women's basketball page.
Preseason Expectations
After finishing second in the regular season standings and defeating Eastern Illinois to claim the OVC Tournament Championship in 2007-08 the league coaches and sports information directors have picked Murray State to finish second in 2008-09.
“It really doesn't matter to me where we are ranked preseason,” Cross said. “Our league is very competitive and anyone of the teams can come out and perform well enough on any given night to win.”
Seniors Amber Guffey and Ashley Hayes also earned spots on the 2008-09 All-OVC Pre-season team. Hayes also earned the distinction of being picked the OVC Pre-Season Player of the Year.
“I am pleased for Amber and Ashley to earn those honors,” added Cross. “Being that both understand that pre-season awards are nice, but they do not guarantee success.”
Early Signing Period Successful
In his first season as head coach Rob Cross had no problems getting commitments for the 2009-10 campaign. Cross announced the signing of seven student-athletes Wednesday, Nov. 12.
The class has been ranked No. 54 in the nation by Blue Star Basketball and is one of a few non-BCS schools to make the list.
Cross signed:
Kayla Cunningham, F, 6-2, Calloway County (Ky.)
Tessa Elkins, G, 5-6, Lakota West (Ohio)
Jessica Holder, F, 6-2, Marshall County (Ky.)
Aubrey Minix, G, 5-9, Oregon-Davis (Ind.)
Candace Nevels, G, 5-9, Bolingbrook (Ill.)
Mariah Robinson, G, 5-8, Ohio County (Ky.)
Jessica Winfrey, F, 6-0, Marion (Ark.)
The group includes two local standouts (Cunningham, Holder), three recognized by ESPN.com (Elkins, Nevels, Winfrey), a player from the No. 2 ranked high school squad in the nation (Nevels), and five all-state honorees.
Challenging Road Ahead
The road to another trip to the OVC Championship game and to the NCAA Tournament will be tough again this season. MSU has nine non-conference games scheduled, including three against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2008. Those teams include Western Kentucky, Miami (Ohio), and Florida State, which advanced to the second round.
The Racers opened the season with a 78-95 loss to Western Kentucky, Nov. 14. Florida State was the next big test at the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational, with MSU losing 50-85.
Upcoming Schedule
The Racers will continue their road stand with the final OVC game of the 2008 portion of the season when they travel to Morehead State, Saturday, Dec. 6. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. (CST). The final game of the road swing will be at Evansville, Sunday, Dec. 14 at 2 p.m.
The final two games of the 2008 portion of the year will be contested in the RSEC. The first will be Wednesday, Dec. 17 against Alabama A&M at 7 p.m. The final game of 2008 is a 7 p.m. tip-off against Houston Baptist, Friday, Dec. 19.
Quick Plays
Senior Angela Mullins set a career best with her three blocks against Florida State...senior Paige Guffey added to her career-high six rebounds against Mid-Continent and tallied seven against the Seminoles...as a team the Racers had a season-best five blocks, including three from Mullins and one each from Paige Guffey and Ashley Hayes against FSU.
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