Head Women's Basketball Coach Rob Cross announced the 2008-09 schedule, for his first season at the helm of the MurrayState women's basketball program.The schedule features three teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2007-08 and two WNIT participants.
Cross was promoted to head coach after spending 13 seasons on the Racer bench as an assistant and helping to guide the 2007-08 team to an Ohio Valley Conference Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.MSU finished its last season with a 24-8 mark overall, and in a tie for second place in the OVC standings with a 15-5 record.It was the second-straight season that the Racers finished with more than 20 wins and the second-consecutive trip to the OVC Championship game.MSU ended the season with a 59-78 loss to No. 3 Duke in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament in College Park, Md.
The Racers will begin their goal of returning to the OVC Tournament with one of the three teams on the schedule to advance to last season's NCAA Tournament when they travel to Western Kentucky, Nov. 14 for a 7 p.m. match-up.The Lady Toppers fell to UTEP, 92-60 in the first-round of action.
“Western Kentucky is a storied program with a lot of talent returning from the Sun Belt Championship and NCAA participant team,” said Cross.“Plus Diddle Arena is a very tough place to play and it will make it a great season opener.”
MSU's first home game will be Nov. 18 against Bethel, before heading to Alabama State for a Nov. 21 contest.AlabamaState finished the 2007-08 campaign with a 10-17 record after being depleted by injury.
“We schedule teams for non-conference play to challenge the team so they are prepared for conference action,” said Cross. “Playing schools from conferences with a higher RPI than the OVC was a high priority of mine and a lot of times you have to play those games on the road.”
The Racers will then have one more home game, against Mid-ContinentUniversity (Nov. 25) before starting a five-match road-stand.
The challenging 2008-09 campaign will continue at the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational, where MSU drew 2008 NCAA participant Florida State in the first game.The Seminoles advanced to the second-round with a win over The Ohio State University, 60-49, before falling to Oklahoma State, 72-73.ColoradoState is hosting the tournament and will face Valparaiso in the first game.
“Opening the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational with FloridaState, an ACC team, will be good to prepare us for conference play down the road,” Cross said.“The challenge will be exciting.”
The Racers continue their road-stand with the beginning of conference action, Dec. 4 in Richmond, Ky. against Eastern Kentucky.MoreheadState is the next stop on the trip, Dec. 6, with the final of the six-straight road games against Evansville, one of the two teams on the schedule to participate in the WNIT.
The Purple Aces faced OVC member, SoutheastMissouriState in the first round of the WNIT, earning a 60-58 victory.Evansville then fell to Kansas in the second-round, 82-60.
“Evansville is a start of a home-and-home series with the Missouri Valley Conference Champion, so we agreed to start at their place and they return here next year,” said Cross.“It is going to be challenging anytime you go on the road, especially with a young team.”
When MSU returns home, Dec. 17, the match-up against Alabama A&M will be one of two home-games in the month of December.The second will follow two days later against Houston Baptist, Dec. 19.
The final non-conference game on the regular season is scheduled for Dec. 21 in Oxford, Ohio, against NCAA Tournament participant Miami (Ohio).The RedHawks lost to Louisville in the opening round of NCAA action, 67-81.
The first OVC game to take place in the RegionalSpecialEventsCenter will be Jan. 8 against TennesseeState at 5:15 p.m., with a game against Austin Peay to follow two days later.Most of the remaining conference portion of the schedule will have the Racers playing two games in the RSEC followed by two road contests.The only exception will be a three-game home-stand starting with Eastern Illinois, Jan. 22 that includes match-ups with Southeast Missouri State (Jan. 24) and UT Martin (Jan. 31).
One highlight of the OVC schedule will be a nationally televised game against Tennessee Tech, Feb. 5 in Cookville, Tenn.The game will be carried live on ESPNU, with tip-off scheduled for 5 pm.
MSU will end the 2008-09 regular season in the RSEC with Feb. 26 and Feb. 28 games against MoreheadState and Eastern Kentucky.
This season's OVC Tournament Championship will be held at SommetCenter in Nashville, Tenn.If the Racers advance to the championship game they will have a second chance to play on national television, as the game will again be broadcast on ESPNU.
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