Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Evansville
Come-From-Behind Victory over Evansville Extends Home-Winning Streak to 21
11/21/2009 4:14:15 PM | Women's Basketball
“To get a win against the defending Missouri Valley Conference champions is exciting,” said head coach Rob Cross. “The reason for the win was the defensive energy in the second half.”
MSU saw career performances from a trio of sophomores, with Rachael Isom leading the team with 26 points. Mallory Schwab added 16 and Kristen Kluempers added 13 points and eight rebounds.
Evansville opened the first half with a 4-0 run before the Racers got on the score board, with a three from Isom with 18:44 remaining in the half. The rest of the half the Purple Aces (0-3) either held as much as an eight-point advantage or let MSU tie the game, but did not allow the Racers to gain a lead. The Racers tied the score at 18 with an 8-0 run over a two minute span, but then saw Evansville regained its advantage with a 7-0 run of its own in a two minute period.
There were several spans during the half where neither team scored and both used runs to cut or gain a lead. With two minutes remaining in the first half, the Racers had cut their deficit to four (35-39), but the Purple Aces again stopped their momentum and scored the final three points of the half to take a 42-35 lead into the locker room.
“Our defense in the first half was abysmal,” Cross said. “The best thing about it is that I didn't have to say a word to the team in the locker room at the half. They knew what they needed to do and they came out in the second half and did just that.”
MSU opened the second half scoring with a three from Isom and in the first three minutes cut the lead to two points. Evansville then turned up the intensity and quickly increased the lead back out to eight points over the next minute. The Purple Aces pushed their lead out to 11 points, with just over 14:30 to play, but the Racers were not done fighting. With Evansville leading 63-53 with just under 12 minutes to play MSU started a 19-3 run to take its first lead of the game, 72-66, over the next four minutes.
The Racers continued to increase the defensive pressure on the Purple Aces and built their lead to as many as 10 points. MSU kept the defensive pressure on high through the end of the game, never letting the advantage drop below seven points on its way to an 85-77 victory.
After shooting just 39.4 percent in the opening stanza, the Racers went 16-of-32 (50 percent) in the second half while out-scoring Evansville, 50-35. The Purple Aces had opposite results in the field-goal percentage charts, hitting 59.3 percent in the first half and 38.5 in the second.
A big key MSU's victory came on the boards, as the Racers earned a 38-25 rebounding advantage, including an 11-2 mark on the offensive side.
The Racers return to the road for two games at the Georgia State Thanksgiving Tournament, Nov. 27-28. MSU first faces the host Panthers, Friday, Nov. 27 at 2p.m. and then will play again at either 2 or 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 28 and face either Troy or Morgan State.
“I am excited about the size of the crowds we have had for the first two games this season, especially since they were stand-alone games.”
“Everybody on our team can score the ball and we can score in a variety of ways. That makes us a hard team to prepare for.”
“With this team I feel comfortable knowing that when we need a basket someone will be able to step up and score for us.”
“Rachael Isom is aggressive and is always looking to score. I told her early in practice that I wanted to see if she was able to score in bunches and I think that she is proving that she is.”
