Racers Use Late Second-Half Surge Victory Over Tennessee State

Thursday, January 8

RSEC

5:15 p.m.

Murray State

Tennessee State

Racers Use Late Second-Half Surge Victory Over Tennessee State

1/8/2009 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

In the first Ohio Valley Conference home game of the 2008-09 campaign the Murray State women's basketball team earned an 82-73 victory over Tennessee State at the Regional Special Events Center.

“It was an exciting win,” said head coach Rob Cross. “It is great to finally be able to play an OVC game at home. I believe TSU is one of the top teams in our league and is certainly a very talented team.”

Senior Ashley Hayes recorded her team-leading fifth double-double of the year with 17 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. Fellow senior Amber Guffey led the team in scoring with 24 points, including a 12-of-12 mark from the charity stripe.

The win was topped off by a ceremony before the start of the men's game to honor the 2007-08 team that claimed the 2007-08 OVC Tournament championship and advanced to the team's first NCAA Tournament.

The Lady Tigers (7-9, 3-2 OVC) earned the first points of the game with just 35 seconds ticked off the clock. The Racers (8-6, 3-1 OVC) got on the scoreboard with 18:36 left in the half when Hayes hit a triple. The game remained close until, with just over 15 minutes left on the clock, TSU started a 9-0 run over a three-minute span to take a 15-9 advantage. The Lady Tigers continued to play strong defense, but were called for four-straight fouls before Murray State finally got to the free-throw line and broke their scoreless streak.

Freshman Jana Roney's free throw was quickly followed by a three-pointer from freshman Rachael Isom to pull the Racers within two points (15-13). TSU kept the advantage in their favor, between three and five points, before the Guffey sisters hit two-straight three's to get the score within one (24-23). Over the next few minutes both teams went on 4-0 runs to keep the advantage in favor of the Lady Tigers.

In the final four minutes of the half Murray State turned the luck in its favor and used an 8-4 run to take a 35-32 lead into the locker room. The span included a 6-0 run that gave the Racers the lead with 1:29 left in the stanza.

TSU came out of the locker room with renewed confidence and quickly tied the game at 37 within the first 1:30 of the second half with a 5-2 run. The game remained tight for most of the half and included eight tie scores. With the clock reading 14:46 the Lady Tigers started a 4-0 run to take a 51-47 advantage, but the Racers would not be denied and tied the game at 53 with 11:27 using an 8-2 run of their own.

The game again became a battle, with Murray State keeping the advantage on the scoreboard and leading by as many as four over the next five minutes. The 11^th and final tie of the game came with 6:16 left on the clock (63-63) when the Racers took over for good. Murray State started a 7-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 70-63 advantage.

The Racers continued to build on their lead and got it up to as many as 11 points with 1:02 left in the game. In the final minute of play the Lady Tigers added six points to their score, but the Murray State lead was too much to overcome and the Racers went on to earn the 82-73 victory.

One of the keys to victory came beyond the arc, as Murray State shot a strong 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from three-point range while TSU made just five of their 17 attempts (29.4%). The Racers also held an advantage in the overall shooting percentages 43.6 percent to 38.4 percent.

Free throws were also a determining factor in the game. Despite the Lady Tigers have a better free-throw percentage (100 to 82.1) the Racers made 23 of their 28 attempts and only allowed TSU to attempt 12.

Murray State will remain at home for a Saturday tip-off against Austin Peay at 4:30 p.m. following the men's game.

Notes: Amber Guffey went 12-for-12 from the charity stripe and matched the output by TSU in the entire game...in the final 11 minutes of play seniors Amber and Paige Guffey each tallied over 10 points...Amber Guffey netted 14 points and Paige Guffey added 11...junior Mallory Luckett tied a career-high with seven rebounds...Ashley Hayes had a season-high four assists...Murray State out-rebounded the Lady Tigers 42-38.