Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Southeast Missouri State
Racers Run Redhwaks Out of RSEC with Decisive 20-5 Run in Final Seven Minutes
1/24/2009 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
After trailing by seven points at the half the Murray State women's basketball team out-scored Southeast Missouri State 50-28 in the second to earn an 80-65 victory in the Regional Special Events Center.
The win extended the Racers (13-6, 8-1 Ohio Valley Conference) home-winning streak to 13 games and snapped a 16 game road OVC winning streak for the Redhawks (9-10, 5-4, OVC). Senior Ashley Hayes, who sat out most of the first half with two personal fouls, sparked
“SEMO had the second longest conference road winning streak in the country at 16 games,” said head coach Rob Cross. “So it is a huge accomplishment for us to come out and accomplish what we did after the way we started the game.”
Hayes was one of three players to record over 20 points in the game, with Amber Guffey and Paige Guffey each garnering 22. The 20-point triple marked the fourth time this season that the trio has recorded more than 20 points in a single game.
Senior Angela Mullins opened the scoring with 19:05 left on the clock and then the Racers held the Redhawks scoreless for another minute. The score remained close until
SEMO then turned the game in its favor with a 7-0 run from 12:38-10:17 to cut the lead to four points. The Redhawks continued to push the tempo of the game forcing several
Both teams emerged from the intermission ready to play as they traded buckets for the first 2:30 before Hayes sparked a 16-2 run over the next five minutes to give
The Redhawks did not give up and cut the lead to one point (54-53) with a 4-0 run over two minutes (11:20-9:20). The teams then traded points for the next two minutes before SEMO tied the game at 60 with seven minutes left to play. With just over six minutes left in the game Paige Guffey started an 8-0 Racer run, scoring the first four points, to give
A key to the game came at the charity stripe. The Racers, who entered the weekend's games as the No. 1 free-throw shooting team in the nation, landed 16 of their 18 shots from the line, while only allowing SEMO to get nine attempts.
The Racers will now have a week off before starting the second half of the OVC schedule when they host UT Martin, Saturday, Jan. 31 at 5:15 p.m. in the RSEC.
Notes: It was the first time since Dec. 21, 2008 against Miami (Ohio) that the Racers had a deficit at the end of the half...Senior Ashley Hayes missed most of the first half after picking up two fouls in the first eight minutes...she tallied nine of her points in those eight minutes in the first half...Hayes scored over 30 points in the game for the third time this season...Hayes, Amber Guffey and Paige Guffey all combined for over 20 points each for the fourth time this season.
Quotes
“The game was similar to what I expected. SEMO is the defending regular season champion from last year and has most of the players from that team back. They came in here and laid everything on the line and played strong.”
“Ashley provided a lot of energy and leadership in the second half.”
On having to sit out most of the first half:
“I think I had too much energy in the first half and that is how I got the two quick fouls. On the bench I have to cheer my teammates on and wait for my name to be called again to go back in the game.”
“We are playing good basketball right now. We are playing hungry and showing that we want it more. We may get down a little bit but we don't get down mentally. We know that we can still win and that is what the game is all about.”
