Racers Fall to Morgan State in GSU Thanksgiving Tournament

Saturday, November 28

Atlanta, Ga.

1 p.m.

Murray State

Morgan State

Racers Fall to Morgan State in GSU Thanksgiving Tournament

11/28/2009 10:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

The Murray State women's basketball team fell to Morgan State, 83-74, in the consolation game of the Georgia State Thanksgiving Tournament. The loss was the second-straight for the Racers, who started out the season with a 4-0 record for the best start since the 1988-89 campaign.

Murray was led by senior Mallory Luckett, who tallied a career-best 22 points and added 15 rebounds and eight assists. The double-double was the second of her career and on the season. Sophomore Rachael Isom was also in double-digits for the Racers with 14 points. Seniors Jasmyne Thornton and Kayla Vance were strong for Murray, with nine points each.

“I asked Mallory Luckett to score a little more today and she hit a couple of big three's early,” said head coach Rob Cross. “She had a phenomenal effort tonight and I can't say enough about what that brings to the team.”

Luckett opened the scoring in the game with one of her career-high five three-pointers in the first half 33 seconds into the game. She added a second less than a minute later to give the Racers an early 6-3 lead. Murray went up 11-7 in the first three-and-a-half minutes and held onto a four-point advantage for the next six minutes before the Bears pushed the tempo of the game.

With just over 10 minutes remaining Morgan State started a 9-1 run to tie the game at 18 and take its first lead, 20-18, with less than seven minutes left to play. The Racers quickly tied the game again and that started a back-and-forth scoring battle for the next three minutes. The Bears then went on an 8-0 run to increase their lead to eight points with two minutes remaining. The teams again traded baskets for the remaining time and Morgan State took a 39-32 advantage into the locker room.

“We came out with no energy from the beginning of the game,” said Cross. “I was disappointed with the energy in the first half and the first five minutes of the second half.”

The second half started with both teams trading baskets for the first seven minutes and the deficit for Murray ranging from seven to 11 points. The Bears then picked up their defensive pressure and held the Racers scoreless for just over three minutes, while tallying nine points of their own to take a 60-45 lead. Once Murray got back to scoring Vance scored the next nine points for Murray to help reenergize the team.

The spark from Vance helped the Racers start a 15-6 run starting with 9:30 left to play and ending with 3:30 left. During the span Murray cut the deficit to three points, 68-65. The Bears then built the lead back out to six with free throws, but a layup and made free throw by Luckett with 1:18 left cut the lead to one possession. Morgan State then benefited at the charity stripe, making 9-of-11 attempts in the final 1:15 of the game on its way to an 83-74 win.

The keys to the game were shooting percentage and free throws. The Racers earned clear advantages in rebounding, 52-45, and made four more three points than the Bears (8-4). But Morgan State made 32 trips to the free-throw line and Murray only earned 14. The Bears also shot 40.8 percent from the field to the Racers' 35.9.

The Racers will return to the RSEC for the opening Ohio Valley Conference games of the 2009-10 campaign next weekend. Murray hosts Eastern Kentucky, Thursday, Dec. 3 at 8:30 p.m. The Racers will also face pre-season OVC favorite, Morehead State, Saturday, Dec. 5 at 5:15 p.m. before taking the next week off for finals.

“We have to come out ready to play,” said Cross. “I think that with such a young team it is going to be important for the seniors to explain and show this week that we are going to raise our intensity level.”

Notes: Mallory Luckett had a career-high point total and a career best for three-pointers made before the end of the first half…senior Jasmyne Thornton garnered career bests with nine points and six rebounds.

Quotes
Head Coach Rob Cross
“The last 15 minutes we gave tremendous effort. We weren't very smart at times, but we got back in the game and had a chance to win. Morgan State made free throws down the stretch and that was the difference maker in the game.”

“We worked so hard because we had dug such a big hole that it forced us to make a few more mental errors. I think that caused a little fatigue to set in as well.”

“We didn't shoot the ball the way we are capable of today.”

“ Kayla Vance came in with a lot of energy in the second half and gave us a big lift.”

“The intensity level gets jacked up when the conference season starts.”

“We have one team that was picked behind us and one that was picked to win the conference so I think this will be a good litmus test for us in the league.”

“I think that our non-conference schedule has prepared us well for the conference season. We just need to make sure that we give more effort than we did tonight.”