Murray State
Eastern Kentucky
Women's Basketball Falls At EKU 79-76
2/8/2008 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
It was a featured battle between the top two scoring teams in the Ohio Valley Conference, but host Eastern Kentucky's defense held out in the second half, enabling the Lady Colonels to take a 79-76 win over Murray State.
Murray State (15-7, 9-5 OVC) did not score a three-point basket in the second half and was held to 41.2-percent (14-for-34) shooting from the field in that period. Eastern Kentucky (11-8, 6-6 OVC) shot 51.7 percent (15-for-29) from the field in the latter half.
The Racers didn't take the lead in the first half until they used a 14-4 run. going from a 23-18 deficit with 8:48 left in the half to a 32-27 lead with 4:50 left in the period. A three-pointer by Amber Guffey got the run going, and a jumper by Ashley Hayes knotted the game at 23-23 with 8:00 left in the half. EKU retook the lead when Crystal Jones hit a basket, but two free throws from Shaleea Petty retied the game at 25-25. Petty then hit a basket to give MSU its first lead of the game, but two free throws by Jones tied it again at 27-27. Petty made another basket, then Hayes made a three-point play to push Murray State out to a 32-27 lead.
MSU got out to as much as a 37-31 lead in the first half, but the Lady Colonels closed out the half on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 39-39 at halftime.
In the second half, Murray State had a 50-47 lead with 15:07 left in regulation when Eastern Kentucky scored the next eight point to push out to a 57-52 lead. The Racers returned the favor, going on its own 8-0 run from that point. A Jessica Jackson jumpshot, a jumper by Hayes, two free throws from Guffey and two free throws by Petty pushed MSU out to a 60-57 lead with 9:55 left in the game.
Murray State took a seven-point advantage when Hayes hit a jumper to put the Racers ahead 70-63 with 5:43 remaining. Eastern Kentucky then closed out the game on a 16-6 run, taking the lead for good on a Shavonne Jones tip-in with 1:25 remaining.
"I thought that Eastern did a good job of attacking us," said MSU head coach Jody Adams. "I thought we played tight. We played timid. Any time you miss wide-open layups, and getting knocked off our boards -- you can't win when you're tight. When we were ahead, we had some confidence, and we needed to attack.
"I knew we would have to use our bench in the second half because of foul trouble. Pam Bell did a nice job in the first half, and I thought that Jessica Jackson did a nice job. She really helped us on the defensive end. You're not going to win championship games by giving up 80 points. Eighty-point ball games are not championship games."
Murray State was led by Hayes, who put in 26 points on 9-for-18 shooting from the field and 8-for-9 shooting from the line to go with five rebounds. Petty added 20 points, going 7-for-13 from the field and 5-for-5 from the line to go with a game-high four steals. Guffey put in 16 points, going 6-for-6 from the line, and also had five rebounds and a team-high four assists. Jackson grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, playing a career-high 28 minutes.
Eastern Kentucky was led by Shavonne Jones, who had 30 points, going 10-for-19 from the field and 10-for-12 from the line. She also had a game-high nine rebounds. Ashley Cazee had 19 points, while Crystal Jones put in 14. Lindsey Waters had seven rebounds for the Lady Colonels, while Niki Avery had a game-high five assists.
Murray State concludes its annual "Death Valley" road trip on Saturday at Morehead State. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. Central Time.
MOVING UP THE CHARTS
Several Murray State players made some moves on MSU's career top-10 lists.
Ashley Hayes became the 10th Murray State women's player to score 1,100 career points, now up to 1,101 career points. Amber Guffey moved into 12th place on the MSU career scoring list with 1,064 careerpoints, moving past Rebecca Remington (2001-05). She is not five points behind No. 11 Shawna Smith (1982-86). Shaleea Petty jumped three spots to No. 27 on the list with 773 career points, passing Heather Bates (756 points, 1998-2000) and Angie Waldon (772 points, 1988-92).
Guffey moved into a tie for second place on the MSU career three-pointers list with 134 career treys, tying the mark set by Misty Pierceall (1994-98). The top spot is held by Ashley Brooke Hayes (2003-07), who made 143 career three-pointers.
Shaleea Petty started in her 101st career game, moving into a tie for fourth with Eniko Verebes (1998-2002), while Gerraca Matthews and Paige Guffey moved into a tie for fifth on the MSU career non-starting games list with their 72nd games as non-starters. They are tied with Pierceall, Kerry Shields (1997-2001) and Jill Fulkerson (2002-06).
THURSDAY OVC SCORES
at Eastern Kentucky 79, Murray State 76
Southeast Missouri 50, at Morehead State 48
at Eastern Illinois 67, Austin Peay 48
Jacksonville State 69, at Tennessee Tech 65
at UT Martin 73, Tennessee State 57
Samford was idle.
UPDATED OVC STANDINGS (OVC / All)
Southeast Missouri (11-2 / 16-6)
Eastern Illinois (12-3 / 13-10)
Samford (10-3 / 17-6)
MURRAY STATE (9-5 / 15-7)
Eastern Kentucky (6-6 / 11-8)
Tennessee State (7-7 / 10-13)
Jacksonville State (7-8 / 10-14)
Morehead State (5-8 / 7-14)
Tennessee Tech (4-10 / 5-19)
Austin Peay (2-11 / 5-17)
UT Martin (2-12 / 5-19)
SATURDAY'S OVC GAMES (all times are Central Time)
MURRAY STATE at Morehead State, 1:00 p.m.
Southeast Missouri at Eastern Kentucky, 2:00 p.m.
Eastern Illinois at UT Martin, 4:00 p.m.
Samford at Austin Peay, 5:15 p.m.
Tennessee Tech at Tennessee State, 5:30 p.m.
Jacksonville State is idle.
