Racers Hold Panthers Scoreless in Overtime to Claim First-Place in the OVC

Saturday, February 21

Charleston, Ill.

3 p.m.

Murray State

Eastern Illinois

Racers Hold Panthers Scoreless in Overtime to Claim First-Place in the OVC

2/21/2009 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

In the second clash for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference between the Murray State women's basketball team and Eastern Illinois, the Racers (18-7, 13-2 OVC) earned a thrilling 84-69 overtime victory over the Panthers (20-8, 13-3 OVC) at Lantz Arena. After EIU tied the game at the end of regulation, Murray State out-scored the Panthers 15-0 in the extra five-minute stanza to earn the win.

The Racers had four players in double-digits in points, while senior Ashley Hayes tallied her fourth-straight double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Senior Amber Guffey trailed Hayes by just four points, earning 21 points (nine in overtime). Senior Angela Mullins and junior Mallory Luckett each added 11 and 10, respectively.

With 2:38 left in regulation Murray State was up by six points (69-63) before EIU made a late push to tie the game at 69 and force the extra stanza. In the final 2:15 of the half the Panthers went on a 6-0 run, including four key free-throws, to tie the game. However, their offensive out-put ended with the buzzer at the end of the second period.

Luckett sparked a 15-0 run in the first 30 seconds of the overtime period to propel the Racers into first-place in the OVC standings and snapped a 20-game home winning streak for EIU. Luckett tallied a triple from the corner with 4:31 remaining and then tallied the next two points for Murray State with 2:51 left on the clock.

“Honestly we did a good job defensively tonight, they [EIU] just hit shots tonight,” said head coach Rob Cross. “We made some changes in the second half and forced them to take longer shots and they started to miss.”

The opening half of action proved that these two teams are at the top of the conference. The Panthers earned the first points of the game at 19:37, but the Racers responded on their first possession and started a 7-2 run over the next two minutes to take a 9-4 advantage. EIU followed with a 6-2 run of its own to get within one point (11-10), but could not take the lead. The Panthers then tied the game at 13 with 13 minutes left on the clock and again Murray State pulled away with a 6-0 run over the next two minutes.

The Racers held on to an advantage for most of the half, but in the final seven minutes EIU made a push with a 13-3 run to take its first lead since the opening possession (29-27). Murray State did not give up and in the final 25 seconds of the half Hayes hit a jumper from just inside the three-point line and then stole the down court pass and made an easy lay-up with three seconds left to give the Racers a 34-33 lead heading in to the locker room.

EIU came out of the locker room ready to regain the advantage and did so in the first minute. The teams then resumed the battle with the Panthers holding onto a 3-5 point lead for the first nine minutes of the stanza. Amber Guffey cut the lead to just one with 10:52 left to go with shots from the charity stripe (49-50). Freshman Mallory Schwab then tied the game at 52 with a three with 10 minutes left to go.

The game remained close, including ties at 54, 56, and 58, before Murray State started a 7-3 run over a two-minute span to give the Racers a four-point advantage. Murray State held the lead until the final seconds of the period when EIU tied the game and forced overtime.

After having a poor shooting performance at Southeast Missouri State, Thursday, the Racers rebounded with a 46.8 mark. The Racers also had a better defensive night, holding EIU to 39.1 percent shooting on the night, including a 0-11 mark in the extra five-minutes. Free throws down the stretch became one of the keys to Murray State's victory, as the team went 19-of-22 from the line. The Racers went 7-of-8 in overtime and 11-of-12 in the second half.

Murray State will conclude the regular season in the friendly confines of the Regional Special Events Center with the final three games next week. The Racers will first play the make-up game against UT Martin, Monday, Feb. 23 before hosting MoreheadState, Thursday, Feb. 26 and Eastern Kentucky, Saturday, Feb. 28. All games are scheduled for 5:15 p.m. tip-offs, with Saturday's contest being the annual senior night.

“EIU is an outstanding team and it is great to win, but this is only one game,” Cross added. “If we don't win on Monday this game will mean nothing. Until you play everyone in the conference twice you don't what is going to happen. One game separating two teams is not a cushion so we need to take care of business and control the moment that we are in.”

Notes: This was only the second game that Murray State played that went into overtime this season...the Racers are now 1-1 in the extra period...Murray State out-rebounded the Panthers 39-36.

Quote

Head Coach Rob Cross

“Rebounding was huge tonight, especially down the stretch.”