Racers Start Out on Winning Track with 72-61 Victory at Alabama A&M

Friday, November 13

Huntsville, Ala.

7 p.m.

Murray State

Alabama A&M

Racers Start Out on Winning Track with 72-61 Victory at Alabama A&M

11/14/2009 4:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

The Murray State women's basketball earned its first win of the 2009-10 season in its first outing, with a 72-61 victory over Alabama A&M in Huntsville, Ala.

The Racers (1-0) were led by freshman Mariah Robinson, who tallied 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. MSU also saw double-digit point totals from sophomore Kristen Kluempers and freshman Jessica Holder. Kluempers added a career-best 12 points and Holder tallied 11. Holder also added five blocks for the Racers, which is fifth on the MSU blocks in a game charts.

“Everybody got in the game, everybody scored. Everybody that got in the game had nice moments,” said head coach Rob Cross. “I'm excited about what this means for our team.”

The Racers opened the scoring with 19:39 left on a jumper from sophomore Kayla Lowe. Lowe tallied the first four points of the game, while MSU held the Bulldogs (0-1) scoreless until 18:18 remained in the first half. AAMU tied the game at four with 17:20 remaining, but that was as close as the Racers allowed them to get the rest of the game.

MSU followed the tie score with a 14-2 run over the next six minutes to take an 18-6 lead. The Bulldogs kept the score close over the next four minutes before going on a 13-0 run of their own to cut the advantage to five, 27-22 with 2:12 remaining. The Racers then closed out the first half with a 6-1 run to take a 33-26 lead into the locker room.

MSU kept the offensive pressure on through the second half, pushing the lead out to as many as 19 points and not allowing AAMU to get closer than six points.

The Racers earned the victory with an all-around effort. All of the 12 players who participated scored at least one point for MSU and all but three tallied at least one rebound. Mallory Luckett led the team with 11 rebounds. The Louisville, Ky., native led a defensive minded team that forced 26 turnovers, while recording 15 steals. Luckett tallied two steals and committed zero turnovers.

“The defensive energy was crucial for use tonight,” said Cross. “We had the ability to focus, switch defenses and play with the same fire no matter what defensive system we were in.”

The Racers will now travel to Memphis, Tenn., to face the University of Memphis, Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. in Elma Roane Fieldhouse. MSU will then return to the Regional Special Events Center to face Mid-Continent, Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. to defend its 19-game home winning streak.

Notes: Freshman Mariah Robinson, sophomore Rachael Isom, Kristen Kluempers and Kayla Lowe all earned their first career starts for the Racers…Robinson is the first MSU player to start in the first game of the season as a freshman since Jenny Petrie started against Kentucky State Nov. 10, 2006…the win was the first time that the Racers have been victorious in the first game of the season since the 2006-07 campaign and the first time that MSU has been the victor in its first road game of the season since the 1999-00 season.

Quotes
Head Coach Rob Cross
“ Mallory Luckett did an outstanding job leading. She only took three shots, but she had 11 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and no turnovers.”

“ Mariah Robinson shot the ball well tonight. She is an exceptional scorer and that showed tonight. We expect great things from her.”

“ Jessica Holder also played extremely well. She had 11 points and five big blocks.”

“ Kristen Kluempers is greatly improved from last year. I was excited to see her make the transfer from practice to a game-time situation.”

“We took care of the basketball and rebounded the ball well even though we were out-rebounded.”

“I was happy that we controlled the pace of the game on the road against a very athletic and very aggressive defensive team. I'm thrilled to get a win on the road in a very tough place to play and I'm please with the effort that our team showed.”