Murray State University Athletics
Thursday, December 3
RSEC
8:30 p.m.
Murray State
54
vs
58
Eastern Kentucky
Slow Start Leads to 54-58 Loss to Eastern Kentucky in OVC Opener
12/4/2009 5:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State women's basketball team had its 21-game home-winning streak come to an end with a 54-58 loss to Eastern Kentucky in the Regional Special Events Center Thursday night. The Racers are now 4-3 on the year and 0-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Senior Kayla Vance led MSU with a season-high 10 points, while freshman Mariah Robinson added nine and Jessica Holder contributed eight. Senior Mallory Luckett was the rebounding leader for the Racers, with nine.
“I am disappointed to lose the first conference game, especially at home,” said head coach Rob Cross. “Eastern Kentucky came in a played a physical game, but I think we did a decent job defensively.”
The Racers had a slow start, as the Colonels went on a 10-0 run to open the first half and held MSU scoreless for almost the first eight minutes of the game. Sophomore Rachael Isom broke the scoreless streak with 12:22 left to play with a three from the right wing. That started the Racers on a 9-0 run over the next 2:30. EKU was held without a field goal from 15:30 to 9:30, with MSU going on a 9-2 run over the span, cutting the disadvantage to as little as one point (9-10).
The scoring draught continued over the next two minutes for both teams with the Colonels being the first team to get the ball through the hoop with 7:20 left to play. The Racers ended their scoreless streak a minute later, but the EKU lead was back up to four (16-11). The rest of the opening stanza was a low scoring affair, with both teams combining for just 19 more points. MSU made a push in the final two minutes of the half and went on an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to two points, 22-24, heading into the locker room.
The Racers shot 28.1 percent from the field (9-of-32), while the Colonels shots just 32.1 percent (9-of-28). Both teams had even more trouble from beyond the arc, with MSU hitting just 1-of-12 (8.3%) and EKU garnering just 1-of-9 (11.1%).
The Colonels came out of the intermission ready to score and play defense. In the opening five minutes EKU again went on a 10-0 run to increase its lead to 12 points (34-22). The Colonels increased their lead to 16 points with just over 13 minutes left to play before the Racers mounted a come-back and went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to nine (31-40). EKU quickly built its lead back to double digits and it wasn't until there was six minutes remaining that MSU was able to string together another run. The Racers went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to five points (40-45) with five minutes left to play.
With just under three minutes left to play and the Colonel lead at six (41-47), freshman Jessica Holder hit two free throws to cut the lead to four. Both teams then saw their shooting go dry again, with the only three points in the next two minutes coming at the free-throw line. EKU had plenty of opportunities to increase its lead, but the team missed 3-of-6 attempts at the charity stripe.
In the final minute of play the Racers were again down by six. Freshman Tessa Elkins grabbed an offensive rebound with 52 seconds remaining and hit the lay-up and the following free throw to cut the lead to three (48-51). MSU was then forced to foul and the Colonels made 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute to take the victory. Vance did her best to give the Racers a chance, hitting two of MSU's three triples in the final 30 seconds of the game.
While both teams struggled to score during the game, EKU held an advantage with a 34.5 shooting percentage (20-of-58) to MSU's 26.2 mark (17-of-65). The Colonels also out-rebounded the Racers 51-39.
MSU will have less than 48 hours to get ready for their next OVC contest, as pre-season OVC favorite, Morehead State heads to the RSEC for a 5:15 p.m. tip-off, Saturday, Dec. 5.
Notes: Senior Jasmyne Thornton earned her first career start…the Racers 22 points in the first half were the lowest number of points scored in the opening stanza since March 22, 2009 when MSU tallied 20 against Ole Miss…it was also the lowest number of points by an opponent since EKU garnered 23 points in the opening half in both meeting with the Racers in the 2008-09 campaign (Dec. 4 & Feb. 28)…MSU is now 16-15 in OVC openers and 11-7 when those games are played in Murray.
Quotes
Head Coach Rob Cross
“There is no excuse for missing wide-open lay-ups and shooting 63 percent from the free-throw line.”
“This team competes and plays hard all the time. We just have to work on our mental focus to be able to make our lay-ups and free throws.”
Senior Kayla Vance led MSU with a season-high 10 points, while freshman Mariah Robinson added nine and Jessica Holder contributed eight. Senior Mallory Luckett was the rebounding leader for the Racers, with nine.
“I am disappointed to lose the first conference game, especially at home,” said head coach Rob Cross. “Eastern Kentucky came in a played a physical game, but I think we did a decent job defensively.”
The Racers had a slow start, as the Colonels went on a 10-0 run to open the first half and held MSU scoreless for almost the first eight minutes of the game. Sophomore Rachael Isom broke the scoreless streak with 12:22 left to play with a three from the right wing. That started the Racers on a 9-0 run over the next 2:30. EKU was held without a field goal from 15:30 to 9:30, with MSU going on a 9-2 run over the span, cutting the disadvantage to as little as one point (9-10).
The scoring draught continued over the next two minutes for both teams with the Colonels being the first team to get the ball through the hoop with 7:20 left to play. The Racers ended their scoreless streak a minute later, but the EKU lead was back up to four (16-11). The rest of the opening stanza was a low scoring affair, with both teams combining for just 19 more points. MSU made a push in the final two minutes of the half and went on an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to two points, 22-24, heading into the locker room.
The Racers shot 28.1 percent from the field (9-of-32), while the Colonels shots just 32.1 percent (9-of-28). Both teams had even more trouble from beyond the arc, with MSU hitting just 1-of-12 (8.3%) and EKU garnering just 1-of-9 (11.1%).
The Colonels came out of the intermission ready to score and play defense. In the opening five minutes EKU again went on a 10-0 run to increase its lead to 12 points (34-22). The Colonels increased their lead to 16 points with just over 13 minutes left to play before the Racers mounted a come-back and went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to nine (31-40). EKU quickly built its lead back to double digits and it wasn't until there was six minutes remaining that MSU was able to string together another run. The Racers went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to five points (40-45) with five minutes left to play.
With just under three minutes left to play and the Colonel lead at six (41-47), freshman Jessica Holder hit two free throws to cut the lead to four. Both teams then saw their shooting go dry again, with the only three points in the next two minutes coming at the free-throw line. EKU had plenty of opportunities to increase its lead, but the team missed 3-of-6 attempts at the charity stripe.
In the final minute of play the Racers were again down by six. Freshman Tessa Elkins grabbed an offensive rebound with 52 seconds remaining and hit the lay-up and the following free throw to cut the lead to three (48-51). MSU was then forced to foul and the Colonels made 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute to take the victory. Vance did her best to give the Racers a chance, hitting two of MSU's three triples in the final 30 seconds of the game.
While both teams struggled to score during the game, EKU held an advantage with a 34.5 shooting percentage (20-of-58) to MSU's 26.2 mark (17-of-65). The Colonels also out-rebounded the Racers 51-39.
MSU will have less than 48 hours to get ready for their next OVC contest, as pre-season OVC favorite, Morehead State heads to the RSEC for a 5:15 p.m. tip-off, Saturday, Dec. 5.
Notes: Senior Jasmyne Thornton earned her first career start…the Racers 22 points in the first half were the lowest number of points scored in the opening stanza since March 22, 2009 when MSU tallied 20 against Ole Miss…it was also the lowest number of points by an opponent since EKU garnered 23 points in the opening half in both meeting with the Racers in the 2008-09 campaign (Dec. 4 & Feb. 28)…MSU is now 16-15 in OVC openers and 11-7 when those games are played in Murray.
Quotes
Head Coach Rob Cross
“There is no excuse for missing wide-open lay-ups and shooting 63 percent from the free-throw line.”
“This team competes and plays hard all the time. We just have to work on our mental focus to be able to make our lay-ups and free throws.”
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