Murray State University Athletics
Racers Host Jacksonville State in Pink Zone
2/13/2009 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Game
The Murray State women's basketball team will be hosting Jacksonville State this Saturday at the annual Pink Zone Game. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. at the Regional Special Events Center. The day is designed to promote awareness for breast cancer and all fans an encouraged to wear pink to the game. All female fans will receive free admission.
About Jacksonville State
The Gamecocks head into with a two-game winning streak that improved their overall record to 6-18 and their Ohio Valley Conference mark to 3-11. In its last three games, JSU has lost to Morehead State in overtime and defeated Eastern Kentucky and UT Martin.
The Gamecocks are lead by Jolie Efezokhae and Brittany Wiley. Efezokhae is averaging 13.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game in OVC action, while Wiley is netting 12.1 points. Both student-athletes are strong shooters, averaging over 42 percent from the field. Wiley is also a threat from beyond the arc, with a 30.8 shooting percentage. Zenobia Pitts is the top three-point shooter for JSU, with a 35.8 percent mark.
The Gamecocks seem to need the first 20-minutes of action to warm up. JSU has tallied 587 points in the opening stanza and then added 794 (207 more) in the second. Their opponents have also done better in the second half, but have only earned 100 more points (749-849).
Against the Gamecocks
In the last meeting between Murray State and JSU the Racers had three players score over 20 points. Amber Guffey led the team with 33 points, while Ashley Hayes added 32, and Paige Guffey tallied 22 to held lead Murray State to a 93-86 victory.
The Racers earned an advantaged at the free-throw line, earning 21 trips to the line, while only allowing JSU to get to the line 11. Murray State hit 17 of its 21 attempts, while the Gamecocks netted eight of their 11. The Racers came out on the higher end in the category against JSU, claiming a 34-28 advantage on the boards.
The Gamecocks had three players in double-digits as well. Jolie Efezokhae had a team-high 27, while Brittany Wiley added 23 and Zenobia Pitts tallied 13.
The Series
The series with the Gamecocks is the newest against conference teams, standing at just 7-2 in favor of the Racers. Murray State has been the victor in the last five games. When playing in the RSEC the Racers are 2-2.
Working Way onto Watch List
Seniors Ashley Hayes and Amber Guffey can now add one more nomination to her list of honors for the 2008-09 campaign as they have both been named to the Naismith Trophy Watch List, named to the top women's basketball player in the nation. Guffey became the first Murray State women's basketball player to be named to the watch list in December, with Hayes earning her spot recently.
The Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T early season watch list was announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and consists of 50 NCAA Division I women's basketball players from across the country. The watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on player performances from the previous year and expectations for the 2008-09 college basketball season. The Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T will be awarded at the 2009 NCAA Women's Final Four in St. Louis, MO.
The voting committee is in the process of narrowing down the list to the Top-30 candidates to be considered on the March ballot.
Best Scoring Duo in the Nation
Seniors Ashley Hayes and Amber Guffey have been leading the Racers all season in scoring and rebounding, but now they have earned the distinction as the best scoring duo in Division I women's basketball. Both players are in the top-12 in the nation in scoring and Murray State is the only school in the nation with two players in the top-50.
Hayes is currently in the No. 6 position with 23.5 points per game, while Guffey is ranked 12th with 20.6 points per game. Both four-year starters are on the best single-game scoring list this season. Guffey is tied for 15th with her 36 point performance at Colorado State. Hayes is also in the No. 15 spot with her 36 points against Austin Peay and in the No. 2 spot for her school-record 46 points against Tennessee State.
Vance Steps Up Intensity
Junior Kayla Vance saw her first action since Jan. 17 at Tennessee Tech when she came in late in the first half against the Golden Eagles at home Thursday. The West Paducah, Ky., native gave the Racers an intensity boost while recording three career bests. Vance connected on three of her four free-throw attempts and added a three-pointer and an assist in four minutes of action.
4-Peat
Ashley Hayes strung together the two best consecutive scoring games by a Racer in school history, set the single game scoring record, put her name on two NCAA individual performance lists and has now been named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week for the fourth-straight week that Murray State competed. She was named OVC Player of the Week for Jan. 12, Jan. 19, and Jan. 26 before missing the Feb. 2 week since the Racers did not compete due to the ice storm that forced the team to reschedule its Jan. 31 game against UT Martin for Feb. 23.
The Humboldt, Tenn., native tallied 82 points in two games, including a school record 46 against Tennessee State, last week. She shot 65 percent from the field and 58 percent from beyond the arc, while hitting all 16 of her free-throw attempts.
Ashley Atop Record Books
Almost two years after Joi Scott set the Racer's single game record for points scored in a game (43 at Tennessee State - 2/26/06) senior Ashley Hayes went into the same building and rewrote the record with her name and 46 points. The total gives her the record for the most points scored by an Murray State basketball player - both men's and women's.
The Humboldt, Tenn., native accomplished the feat with career highs of 14 field goals, seven three-pointers, and 11 free throws. Her seven treys ranks her second on the single game chart at Murray State. Her 11-for-11 free throw mark also puts her in a tie for the second best free-throw percentage in a game.
Unsung Performances
While most of the attention last week was on senior Ashley Hayes, fellow senior Amber Guffey was also recording strong numbers for the Racers. The Albany, Ky., native tallied 26 points, six rebounds, and eight assists against Tennessee State. She followed that game with 25 points, seven rebound, nine assist game against Austin Peay.
Guffey went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and 6-for-6 from the charity stripe against the Lady Govs and hit 15-of-16 free throws against the Tigers.
Academic Success
Murray State women's basketball seniors Amber Guffey and Paige Guffey have both been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 4 First Team and will now be eligible for ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors. The first team honors mark the first time that a MSU women's basketball player has been eligible for Academic All-America honors.
Only eight student-athletes from Murray State have been named to an Academic All-America team, with the most recent being Sarah Dearworth (Volleyball) earning a third-team award in 1994. The volleyball team has seen three Academic All-Americans, while the football team has produced two, and men's basketball, baseball, and rifle have all earned one.
Home Sweet Home
The Racers now have a 9-0 mark in the RSEC this season. The home winning streak dates back to Jan. 31, 2008 and currently stands at 14 games, the longest since Murray State moved to the RSEC. The last loss that the Racers suffered at home was Jan. 26, 2008 against Southeast Missouri State.
The 14-game home winning streak puts Murray state in a tie for 11th in the country for the longest current home winning streak. The Racers current 10-game winning streak also makes the NCAA list of current consecutive wins and puts them in a tie for 13th.
The longest home winning streak in team history is 19 games from Feb. 28, 1987 to Jan. 28, 1989.
20 Point Triple
Murray State's “Big Three” have had strong performances all season, but for the fourth time the trio tallied over 20 points in a game when they did so against Southeast Missouri State.
In a survey of NCAA Division I women's basketball SID's across the country only the University of Georgia has had three players score more than 20 points in a game twice in the same season.
Georgia is also the only school that has had twin sisters score more than 20 points in the same game. Kelly and Coco Miller tallied more than 20 points in the same game 10 times during their four-year career.
Free-Throw Frenzy
For the past four seasons, MSU has been knocking down a high percentage of shots from the charity stripe. Their effort to do so has paid off, as the Racers are currently ranked No. 1 among NCAA Division I teams in free-throw percentage. MSU has made 83.7 percent (381-of-455) of its free throws during the 2008-09 campaign in games through Feb. 9.
MSU finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked No. 3 in the same category, while the team was ninth in 2006-07, and 14th in 2005-06.
Individually the Racers have three players ranked in the top-100 in free-throw percentage. Ashley Hayes leads the team and the OVC with 89.7 percent, having missed only eight of her 78 attempts. That ranks her seventh in the nation. Paige Guffey is also ranked on the national list as No. 9 with an 89.5 percent mark from the charity stripe. Amber Guffey is the third member of the MSU roster ranked in the national free-throw standings at No. 18. Amber has hit 155 of her 176 attempts for a 88.1 percent mark. She finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked sixth in the country with a 85.0 free-throw percentage.
NCAA Student-Athlete Blog
The NCAA started a new feature on its website for the 2008-09 season. The organization has chosen a student-athlete from each of the sponsored sports at each division to create a blog for the duration of the athlete's season. The NCAA asked the MSU women's basketball team to participate in the blog, and seniors Amber Guffey and Ashley Hayes have been uploading at least one blog entry per week since the beginning of the 2008-09 campaign.
The Guffey/Hayes Blog can be found as a link on www.GoRacers.com on the right-hand side of the women's basketball page.
Upcoming Schedule
Murray State will hit the road for the final two regular-season road contests next week. The Racers will first travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., to face Southeast Missouri State, Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. and then move on the face Eastern Illinois, Saturday, Feb. 21 at 3 p.m.
Quick Plays
Senior Ashley Hayes tallied a career-high 17 rebounds against the Golden Eagles...TTU held Amber Guffey scoreless in the first half...it was the second time this season that she has not scored in the first half...as a team the Racers recorded a season-high seven blocks...senior Angela Mullins tied her career high of three blocks.
The Murray State women's basketball team will be hosting Jacksonville State this Saturday at the annual Pink Zone Game. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. at the Regional Special Events Center. The day is designed to promote awareness for breast cancer and all fans an encouraged to wear pink to the game. All female fans will receive free admission.
About Jacksonville State
The Gamecocks head into with a two-game winning streak that improved their overall record to 6-18 and their Ohio Valley Conference mark to 3-11. In its last three games, JSU has lost to Morehead State in overtime and defeated Eastern Kentucky and UT Martin.
The Gamecocks are lead by Jolie Efezokhae and Brittany Wiley. Efezokhae is averaging 13.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game in OVC action, while Wiley is netting 12.1 points. Both student-athletes are strong shooters, averaging over 42 percent from the field. Wiley is also a threat from beyond the arc, with a 30.8 shooting percentage. Zenobia Pitts is the top three-point shooter for JSU, with a 35.8 percent mark.
The Gamecocks seem to need the first 20-minutes of action to warm up. JSU has tallied 587 points in the opening stanza and then added 794 (207 more) in the second. Their opponents have also done better in the second half, but have only earned 100 more points (749-849).
Against the Gamecocks
In the last meeting between Murray State and JSU the Racers had three players score over 20 points. Amber Guffey led the team with 33 points, while Ashley Hayes added 32, and Paige Guffey tallied 22 to held lead Murray State to a 93-86 victory.
The Racers earned an advantaged at the free-throw line, earning 21 trips to the line, while only allowing JSU to get to the line 11. Murray State hit 17 of its 21 attempts, while the Gamecocks netted eight of their 11. The Racers came out on the higher end in the category against JSU, claiming a 34-28 advantage on the boards.
The Gamecocks had three players in double-digits as well. Jolie Efezokhae had a team-high 27, while Brittany Wiley added 23 and Zenobia Pitts tallied 13.
The Series
The series with the Gamecocks is the newest against conference teams, standing at just 7-2 in favor of the Racers. Murray State has been the victor in the last five games. When playing in the RSEC the Racers are 2-2.
Working Way onto Watch List
Seniors Ashley Hayes and Amber Guffey can now add one more nomination to her list of honors for the 2008-09 campaign as they have both been named to the Naismith Trophy Watch List, named to the top women's basketball player in the nation. Guffey became the first Murray State women's basketball player to be named to the watch list in December, with Hayes earning her spot recently.
The Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T early season watch list was announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and consists of 50 NCAA Division I women's basketball players from across the country. The watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on player performances from the previous year and expectations for the 2008-09 college basketball season. The Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T will be awarded at the 2009 NCAA Women's Final Four in St. Louis, MO.
The voting committee is in the process of narrowing down the list to the Top-30 candidates to be considered on the March ballot.
Best Scoring Duo in the Nation
Seniors Ashley Hayes and Amber Guffey have been leading the Racers all season in scoring and rebounding, but now they have earned the distinction as the best scoring duo in Division I women's basketball. Both players are in the top-12 in the nation in scoring and Murray State is the only school in the nation with two players in the top-50.
Hayes is currently in the No. 6 position with 23.5 points per game, while Guffey is ranked 12th with 20.6 points per game. Both four-year starters are on the best single-game scoring list this season. Guffey is tied for 15th with her 36 point performance at Colorado State. Hayes is also in the No. 15 spot with her 36 points against Austin Peay and in the No. 2 spot for her school-record 46 points against Tennessee State.
Vance Steps Up Intensity
Junior Kayla Vance saw her first action since Jan. 17 at Tennessee Tech when she came in late in the first half against the Golden Eagles at home Thursday. The West Paducah, Ky., native gave the Racers an intensity boost while recording three career bests. Vance connected on three of her four free-throw attempts and added a three-pointer and an assist in four minutes of action.
4-Peat
Ashley Hayes strung together the two best consecutive scoring games by a Racer in school history, set the single game scoring record, put her name on two NCAA individual performance lists and has now been named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week for the fourth-straight week that Murray State competed. She was named OVC Player of the Week for Jan. 12, Jan. 19, and Jan. 26 before missing the Feb. 2 week since the Racers did not compete due to the ice storm that forced the team to reschedule its Jan. 31 game against UT Martin for Feb. 23.
The Humboldt, Tenn., native tallied 82 points in two games, including a school record 46 against Tennessee State, last week. She shot 65 percent from the field and 58 percent from beyond the arc, while hitting all 16 of her free-throw attempts.
Ashley Atop Record Books
Almost two years after Joi Scott set the Racer's single game record for points scored in a game (43 at Tennessee State - 2/26/06) senior Ashley Hayes went into the same building and rewrote the record with her name and 46 points. The total gives her the record for the most points scored by an Murray State basketball player - both men's and women's.
The Humboldt, Tenn., native accomplished the feat with career highs of 14 field goals, seven three-pointers, and 11 free throws. Her seven treys ranks her second on the single game chart at Murray State. Her 11-for-11 free throw mark also puts her in a tie for the second best free-throw percentage in a game.
Unsung Performances
While most of the attention last week was on senior Ashley Hayes, fellow senior Amber Guffey was also recording strong numbers for the Racers. The Albany, Ky., native tallied 26 points, six rebounds, and eight assists against Tennessee State. She followed that game with 25 points, seven rebound, nine assist game against Austin Peay.
Guffey went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and 6-for-6 from the charity stripe against the Lady Govs and hit 15-of-16 free throws against the Tigers.
Academic Success
Murray State women's basketball seniors Amber Guffey and Paige Guffey have both been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 4 First Team and will now be eligible for ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors. The first team honors mark the first time that a MSU women's basketball player has been eligible for Academic All-America honors.
Only eight student-athletes from Murray State have been named to an Academic All-America team, with the most recent being Sarah Dearworth (Volleyball) earning a third-team award in 1994. The volleyball team has seen three Academic All-Americans, while the football team has produced two, and men's basketball, baseball, and rifle have all earned one.
Home Sweet Home
The Racers now have a 9-0 mark in the RSEC this season. The home winning streak dates back to Jan. 31, 2008 and currently stands at 14 games, the longest since Murray State moved to the RSEC. The last loss that the Racers suffered at home was Jan. 26, 2008 against Southeast Missouri State.
The 14-game home winning streak puts Murray state in a tie for 11th in the country for the longest current home winning streak. The Racers current 10-game winning streak also makes the NCAA list of current consecutive wins and puts them in a tie for 13th.
The longest home winning streak in team history is 19 games from Feb. 28, 1987 to Jan. 28, 1989.
20 Point Triple
Murray State's “Big Three” have had strong performances all season, but for the fourth time the trio tallied over 20 points in a game when they did so against Southeast Missouri State.
In a survey of NCAA Division I women's basketball SID's across the country only the University of Georgia has had three players score more than 20 points in a game twice in the same season.
Georgia is also the only school that has had twin sisters score more than 20 points in the same game. Kelly and Coco Miller tallied more than 20 points in the same game 10 times during their four-year career.
Free-Throw Frenzy
For the past four seasons, MSU has been knocking down a high percentage of shots from the charity stripe. Their effort to do so has paid off, as the Racers are currently ranked No. 1 among NCAA Division I teams in free-throw percentage. MSU has made 83.7 percent (381-of-455) of its free throws during the 2008-09 campaign in games through Feb. 9.
MSU finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked No. 3 in the same category, while the team was ninth in 2006-07, and 14th in 2005-06.
Individually the Racers have three players ranked in the top-100 in free-throw percentage. Ashley Hayes leads the team and the OVC with 89.7 percent, having missed only eight of her 78 attempts. That ranks her seventh in the nation. Paige Guffey is also ranked on the national list as No. 9 with an 89.5 percent mark from the charity stripe. Amber Guffey is the third member of the MSU roster ranked in the national free-throw standings at No. 18. Amber has hit 155 of her 176 attempts for a 88.1 percent mark. She finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked sixth in the country with a 85.0 free-throw percentage.
NCAA Student-Athlete Blog
The NCAA started a new feature on its website for the 2008-09 season. The organization has chosen a student-athlete from each of the sponsored sports at each division to create a blog for the duration of the athlete's season. The NCAA asked the MSU women's basketball team to participate in the blog, and seniors Amber Guffey and Ashley Hayes have been uploading at least one blog entry per week since the beginning of the 2008-09 campaign.
The Guffey/Hayes Blog can be found as a link on www.GoRacers.com on the right-hand side of the women's basketball page.
Upcoming Schedule
Murray State will hit the road for the final two regular-season road contests next week. The Racers will first travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., to face Southeast Missouri State, Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. and then move on the face Eastern Illinois, Saturday, Feb. 21 at 3 p.m.
Quick Plays
Senior Ashley Hayes tallied a career-high 17 rebounds against the Golden Eagles...TTU held Amber Guffey scoreless in the first half...it was the second time this season that she has not scored in the first half...as a team the Racers recorded a season-high seven blocks...senior Angela Mullins tied her career high of three blocks.
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