Free Throws in Overtime Lift SIU over Racers, 76-71

Saturday, December 19

Carbondale, Ill.

8:05 p.m.

Murray State

Southern Illinois

12/20/2009 5:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

The Murray State women's basketball team fell to Southern Illinois, 76-71, in the first overtime game of the 2009-10 campaign for the Racers (4-7, 0-2 Ohio Valley Conference) in Carbondale, Ill.

Senior Kayla Vance led MSU with another new career high of 22 points. It was the third time that Vance has set a new mark in the points column for herself in the last four games. The Racers also saw double-digit scoring from three other players, with senior Mallory Luckett tallying 14, senior Jasmyne Thornton adding a career-best 12 and sophomore Rachael Isom netting 11.

“ Kayla Vance is doing an outstanding job, playing with a lot of confidence and she is being crafty,” said head coach Rob Cross.

The Salukis (1-7) were the first to get on the scoreboard 50 seconds into the first half, but then neither team scored for the next five minutes. Vance hit a three from the far left corner to get the Racers on the board, with 14:05 left to play in the first stanza. The West Paducah, Ky., native then tallied five-straight points for MSU to give them a brief lead over the next minute of action.

SIU followed by scoring the next two points and then both teams went dry again for three-and-a-half minutes. The Salukis then continued their run and went up 13-5 (9-0 run) before the Racers could get a ball through the hoop again, with 8:46 left to play in the first. MSU countered with a 9-0 run of its own over the next 2:30 to take a 14-13 lead. The teams then traded 4-0 runs and baskets over the final six minutes, with the deciding factor in the score being free throws for the Racers. MSU headed to the locker room with a 23-19 lead.

The Racers then had a chance to get two extra free points before the clock started in the second half, as SIU head coach, Missy Tiber picked up a technical foul after the buzzer sounded to send the team's to the locker room. Vance made both shots for MSU and the Racers had the possession arrow and went on a 4-0 run in the first 30 seconds of the second half to take a 27-19 lead.

The Salukis followed with a 5-1 run over the next minute before the teams again started to trade baskets, but the lead was cut to four. Luckett then sparked an 8-0 MSU run with five-straight points to build the lead back out to 11 points (41-29), over a four-minute span.

The Salukis did not give up and went on a 7-1 run of their own until there was 11 minutes left in the second stanza to cut the deficit to five points. SIU kept the disadvantage around five-to-six points for the next five minutes before going on a 4-0 run to cut the lead to three. The Racers responded and started to traded points with the lead bounding between five and three points in favor of MSU. SIU's Stephany Neptune then cut the lead to two on a free throw, but the Racers responded with a triple from Isom to regain the two possession lead.

The teams again traded points for the next 1:30 before the Salukis tied the game at 61 with 55 ticks of the clock left. SIU then forced a turnover and in the corner on the next Racer possession and got to the free throw line with 15.1 seconds left.

Neptune hit both of her shots to give the Salukis their first advantage of the second half, 63-61. Vance missed an attempt from just outside the lane and the Racers regained possession after the jump ball was called and the arrow was facing MSU's direction.

Jessica Holder took the inbounds pass and hit a shot in the lane to tie the game with 1.1 left on the clock. Katie Wagner then tried to throw the ball to half court for Eboni Crayton, but it she was out-of-bounds and the Racers got the ball at half court with 0.9 left to play. MSU was not able to get a shot off and forced overtime for the first time in 2009-10.

SIU opened the extra stanza with a 3-0 run before the Racers got their first points with 3:56 left to play on free throws by Luckett. The Racers struggled to hit a field goal in the overtime period, with their first six points coming from the free throw line. In fact, 15 of the 21 points scored in the extra stanza by both teams came with the clock stopped.

The Salukis benefited from the points from the charity stripe the most in the extra five minutes, making 9-of-14 their attempts to earn the 76-71 victory.

The Racers now travel to Indianapolis, Ind., to battle IUPUI, Monday, December 21 for a 6 p.m. (CST) tip-off. The game is the fourth in the five-game road trip for MSU that will end at Marshall, December 29.

Notes: This was the first time that the Racers had a lead heading into the locker room since Dec. 5 against Morehead State…senior Jasmyne Thornton tallied her first career three-pointer on her first attempt of the year...it was the first overtime for the Racers since Feb. 21, 2009 at Eastern Illinois.

Quotes
Head Coach Rob Cross
“The end of the game was not the reason that we lost the ball game. We lost because we gave up 28 rebounds to a phenomenal player that took the SIU team on her back and carried them down the stretch.”

“What I am concerned about right now is that we are focused and ready to play the last game before Christmas. We are all looking forward to Christmas, but we need to go into the game with IUPUI focused and ready to win a ball game before heading home to spend time with our families.”