Murray State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Preps For 'Death Valley' Days
2/5/2008 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Back in the mid-1980s, someone whose name is lost to the annals of Ohio Valley Conference history gave each league road trip a name, each called a "Valley" to reflect the conference name. The Murray State-Austin Peay road trip was dubbed "The Valley of Tears," the Tennessee Tech-Middle Tennessee State swing was called "The Valley of Doom," the Akron-Youngstown State journey was named "Ice Valley," and the Eastern Kentucky-Morehead State trek was called "Death Valley."
Since that time, Akron, Youngstown State and Middle Tennessee State have left the conference and six other schools have joined the OVC, but one thing remains true: that Eastern Kentucky-Morehead State road swing is still just as lethal, a bear trap of a trip that can snap a visiting team's win streak and imperil a team's post-season plans, causing them to evaporate like water at the namesake national park in California.
In its history, dating to 1929, the Murray State women's basketball team has swept this road swing only four times -- 1988, 1990, 2000 and last season -- but has been swept 13 times, with 13 splits.
The first stop for the Racers (15-6, 9-4 OVC) will be at Eastern Kentucky on Thursday, with the tipoff at 4:30 p.m. Central Time. Murray State is 11-22 at Eastern Kentucky (10-8, 5-6 OVC), but has won the last two meetings in Richmond. MSU and the Lady Colonels are the top two scoring teams in the OVC, with EKU coming in at 74.8 points per game and the Racers sporting a 74.5-ppg clip. They are also No. 1 and 2 in baskets per game, with Murray State putting in 27.4 buckets per game and Eastern Kentucky hitting 27.0 baskets per contest.
To say that an offensive battle is in the making would be an understatement, and draws attention to each team's defense. Murray State leads the OVC in scoring margin at +9.9 points per game, allowing only 64.6 points per game, ranked fourth in the OVC. Eastern Kentucky, however, has allowed 71.4 points a game, ranked 10th in the OVC, but still ranks fourth in scoring margin at +3.4.
"I think they're a dangerous team," said MSU head coach Jody Adams. "They have the ability to put up a lot of points in a short amount of time. I think their guards are very solid, averaging 13 to 15 points per game, and they have solid post play. They have the natural ability for understanding how to score. If you don't take the defensive side of the ball very seriously, you can get into trouble very quickly.
"They're a great team; they're great at home. We're walking into an environment where we'll see if our last two games are indicative of where this team is heading, and see if we're able to hang on."
Murray State is led by one of the top five scoring tandems in the nation, with Amber Guffey scoring 19.5 points per game and Ashley Hayes scoring 18.1 ppg. Guffey is one of the top free-throw shooters in the nation, ranked seventh this week at 90.1 percent, and averages 4.7 assists per game, ranking second in the OVC. Hayes averages 8.9 rebounds per contest, and leads the OVC with 6.8 defensive rebounds per game.
Shaleea Petty is the Swiss army knife of the team, averaging 9.8 points, 4.1 assists, 2.4 steals and 3.6 rebounds per game, leading the league with a 2.42 assist-to-turnover ratio. Alaina Lee has brought her scoring average into double-digits, now averaging 10.1 ppg to go with 2.3 assists per game. Angela Brown ranks fifth in the OVC with 1.5 blocked shots per game, and is shooting 52 percent from the field.
Eastern Kentucky counters with Crystal Jones, ranked eighth in the OVC with 15.8 points per game. She leads the OVC from the line, hitting 90.7 percent, and averages 3.5 assists and 2.1 steals per contest. She also leads the conference from three-point range, hitting 56.4 percent from behind the arc. Niki Avery is right there, with 13.8 points and 4.2 assists per game. She leads the league with 3.3 three-pointers per game.
The numbers help tell the story, but in recent history, this has been a physical contest, and may come down to the final possession. Eastern Kentucky is 5-6 in OVC play, but is 4-1 at home against league opponents, including a 72-45 win in its last home game against third-place Samford on Jan. 19. Murray State brings in a 4-2 OVC road record, having won its last three league games away from home.
The Racers embark on one of their toughest road swings of the season, and will need all of their horses pulling to make the trip across Death Valley.
RACER GAME CENTRAL
Murray State Racers (15-6, 9-4 OVC) at Eastern Kentucky Lady Colonels (10-8, 5-6 OVC)
Thursday, Feb. 7, 4:30 p.m. Central || McBrayer Arena (6,000), Richmond, Ky.
GAME-DAY INFORMATION
Radio: WNBS (1340 AM / Josh Perigo)
Listen Live: www.GoRacers.com
Live Stats: Click Here
Video Streaming: www.OVCsports.tv
Game Notes: Click Here
Series History: Begun with a 53-50 Eastern Kentucky win on March 3, 1972, in Murray, the series has seen the Lady Colonels take a 48-24 lead on the strength of a 15-game win streak against MSU in the 1990s, although the Racers have won the last four meetings against EKU. The average score in an MSU-EKU contest is EKU 73.7, MSU 68.6. In Richmond, the Lady Colonels hold a 22-11 advantage, although the Racers have won the last two meetings there. Average scoring in Richmond is EKU 78.4, MSU 70.5.
The Coaches: MSU head coach Jody Adams is 15-6 in her first season at Murray State. She is 1-0 against Eastern Kentucky, and this is her first contest in Richmond. EKU head coach Larry Joe Inman is 315-239 in his 20th season at Eastern Kentucky, 476-312 in his 28th career season as a collegiate head coach. He is 42-18 against the Racers in his 28-year career, 14-7 against MSU in Richmond.
Samford Game Time Announced: Murray State's home game against Samford on Saturday, Feb. 23, will begin at 4 p.m. The men's Bracket Buster contest against Indiana State will immediately follow.
Next Up For The Racers: Murray State continues this three-game road swing on Saturday at Morehead State. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. Central Time.
UPDATED OVC STANDINGS (OVC / All)
Southeast Missouri (10-2 / 15-6)
Eastern Illinois (11-3 / 12-10)
Samford (10-3 / 17-6)
MURRAY STATE (9-4 / 15-6)
Tennessee State (7-6 / 10-12)
Eastern Kentucky (5-6 / 10-8)
Jacksonville State (6-8 / 9-14)
Morehead State (5-7 / 7-13)
Tennessee Tech (4-9 / 5-18)
Austin Peay (2-10 / 5-16)
UT Martin (1-12 / 4-19)
THURSDAY'S GAMES (Times are Central Time)
MURRAY STATE at Eastern Kentucky, 4:30 p.m.
Southeast Missouri at Morehead State, 4:15
Austin Peay at Eastern Illinois, 5:00
Jacksonville State at Tennessee Tech, 5:30
Tennessee State at UT Martin, 5:30
Samford is idle.
