Murray State
Tennessee State
Women's Team Uses Early Lead To Win At TSU, 83-71
2/14/2008 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State women's basketball team pushed out to as much as a 21-point lead, and was able to stave off a late Tennessee State rally, as the Racers won their eighth game in the last 10 contests with an 83-71 win over the homestanding Lady Tigers in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Murray State's top scorers, Amber Guffey and Ashley Hayes, got off to sluggish starts in the first half, but Alaina Lee more than picked up the slack, breaking her former career-high of 17 points by halftime, shooting a perfect 7-for-7 from the field in the first 20 minutes en route to a game-high 19 first-half points. She finished with 28 points, going 9-for-12 from the field and 8-for-10 from the line.
Murray State (17-7, 11-5 OVC) never trailed in the game, taking a 10-point lead when Lee hit a jumper to give MSU a 19-9 lead with 11:41 left in the first half. Later in the period, a 13-3 run pushed the Racers out to a 40-19 lead when Hayes hit a jumpshot with 3:43 left in the half, and Murray State settled into a 47-32 lead at intermission.
In the second half, the Lady Tigers (11-15, 8-9 OVC) chipped away at the Racer lead, but MSU was able to push it out to 16 points seven times in the half, the latest coming when Hayes hit a basket to give Murray State a 78-62 lead with 3:59 left in regulation. TSU scored the next seven points, getting a single-digit lead for the first time since midway through the first half, when Obiageli Okafor landed a basket to cut the Murray State lead to 78-67 with 1:54 left, but there wasn't enough time to complete the comeback, and the Racers came away with an 83-71 win.
"To come in here and play a road game in this environment, without your point guard (Shaleea Petty) -- that affected us," said MSU head coach Jody Adams. "Alaina Lee stepped it up big-time for her teammate, on both sides of the ball. She held their top scorer (Kendra Appling) to nine points tonight. What we heard was, 'Nobody can guard you. No. 15 (Petty) is out, so nobody else can guard you.' It doesn't take much to jack a little girl up."
Petty was still working out health issues after being injured at the Morehead State game on Feb. 9.
Hayes put in 20 points, going 8-for-18 from the field, and pulled down a team-high five rebounds. Guffey had 15 points, going 8-for-9 from the line, to go with three rebounds and a game-high three steals. Jessica Jackson had a team-high three assists. Jackson and Pam Bell each had four rebounds for MSU.
Tennessee State was paced by 18 points from Tiffany Jackson,who went 8-for-13 from the line and had six rebounds. Okafor finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Kendra Appling grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while she and LaDona Pierce had a game-high four assists.
Murray State closes out its regular-season schedule by playing three of its last four games at home. The Racers host Eastern Illinois on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The game is designated "Think Pink Night" for Murray State as part of a breast cancer awareness initiative.
THURSDAY NIGHT IN THE OVC
MURRAY STATE 83, at Tennessee State 71
at Southeast Missouri 46, Eastern Illinois 41
Eastern Kentucky 104, at Jacksonville State 75
at Samford 59, Morehead State 57
at Tennessee Tech 66, UT Martin 47
Austin Peay was idle.
UPDATED OVC STANDINGS (OVC / All)
Southeast Missouri (13-2 / 18-6)
Samford (12-3 / 19-6)
Eastern Illinois (13-4 / 14-11)
MURRAY STATE (11-5 / 17-7)
Eastern Kentucky (7-7 / 12-9)
Tennessee State (8-9 / 11-15)
Jacksonville State (7-9 / 10-15)
Tennessee Tech (6-10 / 7-19)
Morehead State (5-10 / 7-16)
Austin Peay (2-13 / 5-19)
UT Martin (2-14 / 5-21)
