Murray State University Athletics
Racers Hit Road For Final Regular Season Road Trip of 2008-09
2/18/2009 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Game
The Murray State women's basketball team is heading to Cape Girardeau, Mo., for the first game of the final regular-season road trip of 2008-09. The Racers take their 17-6 record and 12-1 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference to battle with Southeast Missouri State at the Show Me Center, Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.
About Southeast Missouri State
The Redhawks enter Thursday's game with a 13-12 overall record and an 8-6 mark in the OVC after falling to Morehead State on a buzzer-beater shot in their last outing.
SEMO has three players averaging double-digits during conference action. Tarina Nixon leads the team with 13.1 points while adding 4.2 rebounds. Sonya Daugherty is next on the list with 12.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Crysta Glenn comes in just above 10 points (10.1) and is the team's leading rebounder, with 7.6 boards per game. Daugherty is one of the top shooters on the squad with a 40.3 percentage from the field and a 33.3 percent mark from beyond the arc.
Ball control is key for the Redhawks. SEMO is ranked second in the OVC in steals and in turnover margin. The Redhawks take the ball away from their opponents 9.6 times per game, with Lauren Sharpe leading the way with 2.4 (good for a 75th ranking nationally). SEMO has a +2.6 turnover margin committing 14.6 turnovers per game while helping to force 17.5 by its opponents.
While the Redhawks are garnering 67 more points in the second half than they do in the first, they are allowing their opponents to net 93 more. The difference has allowed teams to come-from-behind at half time to win on three occasions this season, including the game at the RSEC.
Against the Redhawks
After trailing by seven points at the half Murray State out-scored SEMO 50-28 in the second to earn an 80-65 victory in the first meeting between the teams this season.
The Racer win snapped a 16 game road OVC winning streak for the Redhawks. Senior Ashley Hayes, who sat out most of the first half with two personal fouls, sparked Murray State to victory by recording 21 of her 30 points in the second half.
Hayes was one of three players to record over 20 points in the game, with Amber Guffey and Paige Guffey each garnering 22.
Murray State had a strong shooting night, with a 54.9 (28-of-51) shooting percentage from the field and a 42.1 (8-of-19) mark from beyond the arc. Both percentages were both over 10 percent better than those of the Redhawks. SEMO recorded a 44.1 percent (26-of-59) shooting percentage overall and just a 26.3 mark (5-of-19) from three-point range. A key to the game came at the charity stripe. The Racers landed 16 of their 18 shots from the line, while only allowing SEMO to get nine attempts.
The Redhawks were led by Rachel Blunt and Tarina Nixon. Blunt tallied 12 points and eight rebounds, while Nixon added 10 points and six rebounds.
The Series
The series with SEMO is one of just four in the OVC that the Racers do not have an advantage in. The Redhawks currently have a slight, 29-20, advantage in the all-time series, with Murray State earning the last victory.
We're Goin' Streaking
The 2008-09 squad has stacked up a list of school bests this season and recently added another to their list of accomplishments. The Racers are currently on an 11-game winning streak, the longest in school history. The 11-game winning streak also makes the NCAA list of current consecutive wins and puts Murray State in a tie for 12th.
The longest previous streak was eight games accomplished twice. The 2007-08 team rattled off eight-straight victories from Feb. 9, 2008-March 8, 2008 before falling to Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The only other team to record eight wins in a row was the 1988-89 team. The Racers won their first eight games of the season (Nov. 25, 1988-Dec. 17, 1988).
Ashley Adding to Resume
Ashley Hayes has had a great senior season for Murray State and is constantly adding achievements to her career resume. This year Hayes has recorded at least 30 points in seven games, the most by a single player in a season, and helped Murray State garner 10 30-point games, the most by a team in a season. In the last five games Hayes has added another first, scoring at least 30 points in five-straight games. The previous streak was two games by Diane Oakley, Jennifer Parker, and Joi Scott.
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.
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-15 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. 5 position with 23.8 points per game, while Guffey is ranked 18th with 20.3 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.
Honoring Hayes - Again
Senior Ashley Hayes has earned her fifth-straight OVC Player of the Week honor for her performance last week against Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State.
The Humboldt, Tenn., native tallied a double-double on the week for Murray State, scoring at least 30 points in each game. She recorded a career-high 17 rebounds against the Golden Eagles. Hayes has scored 30-plus points in her last five games, the longest streak by a single player in school history. For the week, she averaged 30.5 points and 13.5 rebounds while shooting 59.5 percent from the floor.
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.
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 11-0 mark in the RSEC this season. The home winning streak dates back to Jan. 31, 2008 and currently stands at 15 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 15-game home winning streak puts Murray state 9th in the country for the longest current home winning streak. 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 83.2 percent (420-of-505) of its free throws during the 2008-09 campaign in games through Feb.15.
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. Paige Guffey leads the team and the OVC with 88.7 percent. That ranks her ninth in the nation. Amber Guffey is also ranked on the national list as No. 18 with an 87.6 percent mark from the charity stripe. She finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked sixth in the country with a 85.0 free-throw percentage. Ashley Hayes is the third member of the MSU roster ranked in the national free-throw standings at No. 19.
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
The Racers remain on the road for their final regular-season away game of the 2008-09 campaign, Saturday, Feb. 21 at Eastern Illinois. The battle for first-place in the OVC standings will start at 3 p.m. in Lantz Arena. Murray State will then return home for the final three games of the regular season.
Quick Plays
All members of the roster saw action in Saturday's game against Jacksonville State...junior Kayla Vance recorded her first career steal...junior Mallory Luckett garnered a career-high four steals and four assists...senior Paige Guffey tied a career best with two steals.
The Murray State women's basketball team is heading to Cape Girardeau, Mo., for the first game of the final regular-season road trip of 2008-09. The Racers take their 17-6 record and 12-1 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference to battle with Southeast Missouri State at the Show Me Center, Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.
About Southeast Missouri State
The Redhawks enter Thursday's game with a 13-12 overall record and an 8-6 mark in the OVC after falling to Morehead State on a buzzer-beater shot in their last outing.
SEMO has three players averaging double-digits during conference action. Tarina Nixon leads the team with 13.1 points while adding 4.2 rebounds. Sonya Daugherty is next on the list with 12.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Crysta Glenn comes in just above 10 points (10.1) and is the team's leading rebounder, with 7.6 boards per game. Daugherty is one of the top shooters on the squad with a 40.3 percentage from the field and a 33.3 percent mark from beyond the arc.
Ball control is key for the Redhawks. SEMO is ranked second in the OVC in steals and in turnover margin. The Redhawks take the ball away from their opponents 9.6 times per game, with Lauren Sharpe leading the way with 2.4 (good for a 75th ranking nationally). SEMO has a +2.6 turnover margin committing 14.6 turnovers per game while helping to force 17.5 by its opponents.
While the Redhawks are garnering 67 more points in the second half than they do in the first, they are allowing their opponents to net 93 more. The difference has allowed teams to come-from-behind at half time to win on three occasions this season, including the game at the RSEC.
Against the Redhawks
After trailing by seven points at the half Murray State out-scored SEMO 50-28 in the second to earn an 80-65 victory in the first meeting between the teams this season.
The Racer win snapped a 16 game road OVC winning streak for the Redhawks. Senior Ashley Hayes, who sat out most of the first half with two personal fouls, sparked Murray State to victory by recording 21 of her 30 points in the second half.
Hayes was one of three players to record over 20 points in the game, with Amber Guffey and Paige Guffey each garnering 22.
Murray State had a strong shooting night, with a 54.9 (28-of-51) shooting percentage from the field and a 42.1 (8-of-19) mark from beyond the arc. Both percentages were both over 10 percent better than those of the Redhawks. SEMO recorded a 44.1 percent (26-of-59) shooting percentage overall and just a 26.3 mark (5-of-19) from three-point range. A key to the game came at the charity stripe. The Racers landed 16 of their 18 shots from the line, while only allowing SEMO to get nine attempts.
The Redhawks were led by Rachel Blunt and Tarina Nixon. Blunt tallied 12 points and eight rebounds, while Nixon added 10 points and six rebounds.
The Series
The series with SEMO is one of just four in the OVC that the Racers do not have an advantage in. The Redhawks currently have a slight, 29-20, advantage in the all-time series, with Murray State earning the last victory.
We're Goin' Streaking
The 2008-09 squad has stacked up a list of school bests this season and recently added another to their list of accomplishments. The Racers are currently on an 11-game winning streak, the longest in school history. The 11-game winning streak also makes the NCAA list of current consecutive wins and puts Murray State in a tie for 12th.
The longest previous streak was eight games accomplished twice. The 2007-08 team rattled off eight-straight victories from Feb. 9, 2008-March 8, 2008 before falling to Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The only other team to record eight wins in a row was the 1988-89 team. The Racers won their first eight games of the season (Nov. 25, 1988-Dec. 17, 1988).
Ashley Adding to Resume
Ashley Hayes has had a great senior season for Murray State and is constantly adding achievements to her career resume. This year Hayes has recorded at least 30 points in seven games, the most by a single player in a season, and helped Murray State garner 10 30-point games, the most by a team in a season. In the last five games Hayes has added another first, scoring at least 30 points in five-straight games. The previous streak was two games by Diane Oakley, Jennifer Parker, and Joi Scott.
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.
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-15 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. 5 position with 23.8 points per game, while Guffey is ranked 18th with 20.3 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.
Honoring Hayes - Again
Senior Ashley Hayes has earned her fifth-straight OVC Player of the Week honor for her performance last week against Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State.
The Humboldt, Tenn., native tallied a double-double on the week for Murray State, scoring at least 30 points in each game. She recorded a career-high 17 rebounds against the Golden Eagles. Hayes has scored 30-plus points in her last five games, the longest streak by a single player in school history. For the week, she averaged 30.5 points and 13.5 rebounds while shooting 59.5 percent from the floor.
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.
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 11-0 mark in the RSEC this season. The home winning streak dates back to Jan. 31, 2008 and currently stands at 15 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 15-game home winning streak puts Murray state 9th in the country for the longest current home winning streak. 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 83.2 percent (420-of-505) of its free throws during the 2008-09 campaign in games through Feb.15.
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. Paige Guffey leads the team and the OVC with 88.7 percent. That ranks her ninth in the nation. Amber Guffey is also ranked on the national list as No. 18 with an 87.6 percent mark from the charity stripe. She finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked sixth in the country with a 85.0 free-throw percentage. Ashley Hayes is the third member of the MSU roster ranked in the national free-throw standings at No. 19.
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
The Racers remain on the road for their final regular-season away game of the 2008-09 campaign, Saturday, Feb. 21 at Eastern Illinois. The battle for first-place in the OVC standings will start at 3 p.m. in Lantz Arena. Murray State will then return home for the final three games of the regular season.
Quick Plays
All members of the roster saw action in Saturday's game against Jacksonville State...junior Kayla Vance recorded her first career steal...junior Mallory Luckett garnered a career-high four steals and four assists...senior Paige Guffey tied a career best with two steals.
Indiana State VS Murray State | MVC Baseball Tournament | Game Highlights
Friday, May 22
Evansville VS Murray State | Women's Basketball Game Highlights
Saturday, February 28
Head Coach Rechelle Turner | Racer Basketball | 2/26/26 Post Game Press Conference
Friday, February 27
Thomas & Pena | Racer Basketball | 2/26/26 Post Game Press Conference
Friday, February 27
