Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Tennessee Tech
Women Push Past Tennessee Tech 80-70
2/28/2008 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State women's basketball team jumped out to an early lead, but had to fend off several Tennessee Tech charges before claiming the 80-70 win in Ohio Valley Conference action.
The win was the 20th for Murray State (20-7, 14-5 OVC), marking the first time for the Racers to get back-to-back 20-win seasons since the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons. The win was also the first for MSU at Tennessee Tech since 1993.
Murray State jumped out to a 9-1 lead, as the Golden Eagles (8-22, 7-13 OVC) missed on their first 11 tries from the field. That lead expanded to as much as 13 points when Gerraca Matthews hit a jumper to give MSU a 21-8 lead with 6:32 left in the first half.
Tennessee Tech closed out the half on a solid note. Murray State took a 27-17 lead when Pam Bell hit a basket with 2:52 left in the period, but the Golden Eagles scored the next 10 points, tying the game at 27-27 when Meagan Lyons made a jumpshot with 19 seconds left in the half. Amber Guffey hit a basket as time expired, giving the Racers a 29-27 halftime advantage.
Murray State held Tennessee Tech to 28.1-percent shooting from the field (9-for-32) and out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 22 to 20, but committed 10 first-half turnovers to TTU's five.
A three-pointer by Tech's Blair Bowens early in the second half tied the game at 31-31, but Murray State went on a 9-0 run, as Guffey made one of two free-throw attempts before sinking a three, Shaleea Petty made a three-point play and Matthews made a layup to give MSU a 40-31 lead with 15:59 remaining in regulation.
Tennessee Tech pushed back, trimming the MSU lead to two points twice, the last time coming when Allison Price hit a basket to close Tech to within 45-43 with 11:20 left, but a three-point play by Petty and a bucket from Jessica Jackson pushed the Racers back out to a 50-43 lead.
Tennessee Tech hung close, getting back to within three when Bowens hit a trey to pull the Golden Eagles to within 64-61 with 3:53 remaining, but back-to-back baskets from Jackson and Angela Brown pushed MSU back out to a manageable lead. Another 6-0 run by the Racers pushed MSU back out to a double-digit lead and kept Tennessee Tech at arm's length.
"I'm really proud of this team, the way they fought," said MSU head coach Jody Adams. "They had to dig deep to get this win tonight. I really appreciate their fight and their hard work and dealing with a lot of adversity. They really hung tough. I thought that Pam Bell held us in there in the first half. The bottom line was: she was rebounding her tail off. Defensively, when she moves her feet, she can defend the best of them.
"In the first half, I can't say our defensive presence caused a lot of Tennessee Tech's shooting problems, but we got after it and held them to one-shot possessions. When they made their comeback, they were able to get second and third looks and had a lot of second-chance points and transition baskets."
Murray State was led by Guffey's 18 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field (3-for-3 from three-point range) and 7-for-8 shooting from the line. Matthews had 13 points off the bench on 6-for-9 shooting from the floor, and Petty, Ashley Hayes and Alaina Lee each had 10 points. Pam Bell had a game-high 11 rebounds and a game-high three blocked shots, while Petty had six to go with a game-high four steals.
Tennessee Tech was led by Bowens, who had 16 points and three assists. Kristina Tyler added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Lyons had 11 points and seven rebounds. Marissa Hensley had 10 points and six rebounds, while Price added points, four assists and three steals.
Murray State closes out its regular-season schedule on Saturday against UT Martin. The Racers will honor its four senior players and senior manager taking part in their last season at MSU. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
