Murray State University Athletics
Racers Set to Battle with Eagles In Final Week of OVC Action
2/25/2009 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Game
The Murray State women's basketball team will be looking to earn some revenge against Morehead State when they come to the Regional Special Events Center, Thursday, Feb. 26 for a 5:15 p.m. tip-off. The Eagles are one of just two teams that the Racers have lost to in the Ohio Valley Conference this season.
About Morehead State
The Eagles head to Murray looking to become the final team to host a first-round game for the OVC Tournament next week. Morehead State is currently tied with Southeast Missouri State in fourth in the league standings with a 10-6 mark and a 16-12 overall record.
The Eagles are currently on a two-game winning streak after defeating SEMO in Morehead and then earning a win over Eastern Kentucky on the road.
Morehead State has three players averaging over 10 points per game, with Chynna Bozeman leading the team with 16.9 per game. Brittany Pittman is the next highest scorer, with 13.3 points, while Tiffany Hamilton nets 10.4 per game. All three have shooting percentages above the team average of 38 percent. Pittman is the best shooter, with a 52.5 percentage. Hamilton is second with a 40.3 mark, and Bozeman adds 39.7 percent of her shots to the mix. Bozeman is also the best three-point shooter on the team, with a 38.9 percent.
Three-point shooting is a key to the Eagles offense, as they are ranked No. 5 in the country in triples made per game (8.3). Bozeman is the largest contributor in that column for Morehead State, recording 2.9 per game - fifth best in the nation.
Pittman is an all-around threat for the Eagles as she leads the team in rebounding and blocks, and is second in steals. The center garners 9.5 boards per game and has recorded 22 steals this season. Her biggest tool on the court is her blocking ability. Pittman is the main reason why Morehead State is ranked third in the nation in blocked shots, with 6.8 per game. Pittman contributes 5.8 of those blocks and is at the top of the individual list for NCAA Division I women's basketball players.
Like most of the teams that the Racers have faced recently, the second 20 minutes of action seems to be when the Eagles turn up the offensive pressure. This season Morehead State has been out-scored by nine points in the opening stanza, but it has out-produced its conference opponents by 60 points in the second half. The Eagles have netted 105 more points in the second and only allowed their opponents garner 36 more.
Against the Eagles
Senior Amber Guffey had her second 30+ point night for Murray State, but it was not enough to lead the Racers to victory over Morehead State earlier this season. It took overtime to decide the game, but the Eagles earned the 84-76 victory.
Amber Guffey tallied 31 points, was a perfect 12-for-12 from the charity stripe, and added five rebounds. Fellow senior Ashley Hayes recorded a double-double, with her 18 points and 11 rebounds. Rounding out the double-digit scorers for Murray State was senior Paige Guffey, who tallied 17 and added eight rebounds.
For the first time since Nov. 25 against Mid-Continent the Racers out-rebounded their opponent. Murray set a season best by out-rebounding Morehead by 21 (53 to 32), including a 16 to eight advantage on the offensive side. Both teams had problems making shots, throughout the game, with both ending the game shooting 37.1 percent from the field. The keys to the Eagles' victory were their 62.5 percent shooting in overtime and turnovers. The Racers committed 25 turnovers, while Morehead tallied just eight. The Eagles capitalized on those errors, scoring 21 of their 84 points off Murray State turnovers.
Chynna Bozeman led Morehead State with 27 points, while Brittany Pittman added 18, and Tiffany Hamilton garnered 14. Pittman recorded a team-high eight rebounds and threw in five blocks.
The Series
The Eagles currently hold a 38-33 advantage in the all-time series after the victory in Morehead earlier this season. However before that game, Murray State had been victorious in the previous five games dating back to Dec. 9, 2006. In fact the Racers are 7-3 against Morehead State in the past five seasons.
Amber Academic All-America of the Year
Senior Amber Guffey was honored Monday with the biggest academic award for a Division I women's basketball player when she was named the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America of the Year. The award is the first for a Murray State student-athlete. Amber joins the ranks of players like Candace Parker, who earned the award for the 2007-08 campaign.
Amber and her twin sister Paige Guffey were also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team after earning Academic All-District 4 honors. Both the all-district and All-America honors are the first for the women's basketball team.
Including the Guffey sisters, only 10 student-athletes from Murray State have been named to an Academic All-America team, and only four have earned first team accolades. 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.
Controlling Destiny
After defeating Eastern Illinois Saturday and UT Martin Monday, the Racers moved two steps closer to claiming their first regular season OVC title. Murray State will need to win both Thursday's and Saturday's game to claim the title outright. If the Racers and EIU win heading into Saturday's games the worst that could happen would be a tie for first, but the regular season sweep of the Panthers gives Murray State the tie breaker for the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
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-14 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 23.5 points per game, while Guffey is ranked 14th with 20.2 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 and Again
Senior Ashley Hayes has earned her sixth-straight OVC Player of the Week honor for her performance last week against Southeast Missouri State and Eastern Illinois.
The Humboldt, Tenn., native averaged 20.5 points and 12.0 rebounds last week. She has now recorded four straight double-doubles and has a team high 12 on the season. Hayes scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the loss at SEMO and followed that up with a 25-point , 12-rebound effort at EIU.
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.
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 16 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 16-game home winning streak puts Murray state 6th 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 83.6 percent of its free throws during the 2008-09 campaign in games through Feb. 22.
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 88.9 percent. That ranks her eighth in the nation. Amber Guffey is also ranked on the national list as No. 13 with an 88.2 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. 15, with an 88.1 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
The Racers will conclude the regular season this Saturday at the RSEC. Murray State will host Eastern Kentucky at 5:15 p.m. in a game that could help determine the final team to make the OVC Tournament. Murray State will have one more game in the RSEC, Tuesday, March 3 when they host the first round of the OVC Tournament. If the season ended now the Racers would host Jacksonville State, but depending on the outcome of the final two games of the season Murray State could play the Gamecocks, Tennessee Tech, or Eastern Kentucky.
Quick Plays
Senior Jessica Jackson tallied a season-high six rebounds against UT Martin...junior Jasmyne Thornton added a season-best three rebounds...the was a make-up date for the original game with the Skyhawks that was schedule for Jan. 31., the game was rescheduled due to the ice storm that cut off power and water to Western Kentucky for a week or more.
The Murray State women's basketball team will be looking to earn some revenge against Morehead State when they come to the Regional Special Events Center, Thursday, Feb. 26 for a 5:15 p.m. tip-off. The Eagles are one of just two teams that the Racers have lost to in the Ohio Valley Conference this season.
About Morehead State
The Eagles head to Murray looking to become the final team to host a first-round game for the OVC Tournament next week. Morehead State is currently tied with Southeast Missouri State in fourth in the league standings with a 10-6 mark and a 16-12 overall record.
The Eagles are currently on a two-game winning streak after defeating SEMO in Morehead and then earning a win over Eastern Kentucky on the road.
Morehead State has three players averaging over 10 points per game, with Chynna Bozeman leading the team with 16.9 per game. Brittany Pittman is the next highest scorer, with 13.3 points, while Tiffany Hamilton nets 10.4 per game. All three have shooting percentages above the team average of 38 percent. Pittman is the best shooter, with a 52.5 percentage. Hamilton is second with a 40.3 mark, and Bozeman adds 39.7 percent of her shots to the mix. Bozeman is also the best three-point shooter on the team, with a 38.9 percent.
Three-point shooting is a key to the Eagles offense, as they are ranked No. 5 in the country in triples made per game (8.3). Bozeman is the largest contributor in that column for Morehead State, recording 2.9 per game - fifth best in the nation.
Pittman is an all-around threat for the Eagles as she leads the team in rebounding and blocks, and is second in steals. The center garners 9.5 boards per game and has recorded 22 steals this season. Her biggest tool on the court is her blocking ability. Pittman is the main reason why Morehead State is ranked third in the nation in blocked shots, with 6.8 per game. Pittman contributes 5.8 of those blocks and is at the top of the individual list for NCAA Division I women's basketball players.
Like most of the teams that the Racers have faced recently, the second 20 minutes of action seems to be when the Eagles turn up the offensive pressure. This season Morehead State has been out-scored by nine points in the opening stanza, but it has out-produced its conference opponents by 60 points in the second half. The Eagles have netted 105 more points in the second and only allowed their opponents garner 36 more.
Against the Eagles
Senior Amber Guffey had her second 30+ point night for Murray State, but it was not enough to lead the Racers to victory over Morehead State earlier this season. It took overtime to decide the game, but the Eagles earned the 84-76 victory.
Amber Guffey tallied 31 points, was a perfect 12-for-12 from the charity stripe, and added five rebounds. Fellow senior Ashley Hayes recorded a double-double, with her 18 points and 11 rebounds. Rounding out the double-digit scorers for Murray State was senior Paige Guffey, who tallied 17 and added eight rebounds.
For the first time since Nov. 25 against Mid-Continent the Racers out-rebounded their opponent. Murray set a season best by out-rebounding Morehead by 21 (53 to 32), including a 16 to eight advantage on the offensive side. Both teams had problems making shots, throughout the game, with both ending the game shooting 37.1 percent from the field. The keys to the Eagles' victory were their 62.5 percent shooting in overtime and turnovers. The Racers committed 25 turnovers, while Morehead tallied just eight. The Eagles capitalized on those errors, scoring 21 of their 84 points off Murray State turnovers.
Chynna Bozeman led Morehead State with 27 points, while Brittany Pittman added 18, and Tiffany Hamilton garnered 14. Pittman recorded a team-high eight rebounds and threw in five blocks.
The Series
The Eagles currently hold a 38-33 advantage in the all-time series after the victory in Morehead earlier this season. However before that game, Murray State had been victorious in the previous five games dating back to Dec. 9, 2006. In fact the Racers are 7-3 against Morehead State in the past five seasons.
Amber Academic All-America of the Year
Senior Amber Guffey was honored Monday with the biggest academic award for a Division I women's basketball player when she was named the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America of the Year. The award is the first for a Murray State student-athlete. Amber joins the ranks of players like Candace Parker, who earned the award for the 2007-08 campaign.
Amber and her twin sister Paige Guffey were also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team after earning Academic All-District 4 honors. Both the all-district and All-America honors are the first for the women's basketball team.
Including the Guffey sisters, only 10 student-athletes from Murray State have been named to an Academic All-America team, and only four have earned first team accolades. 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.
Controlling Destiny
After defeating Eastern Illinois Saturday and UT Martin Monday, the Racers moved two steps closer to claiming their first regular season OVC title. Murray State will need to win both Thursday's and Saturday's game to claim the title outright. If the Racers and EIU win heading into Saturday's games the worst that could happen would be a tie for first, but the regular season sweep of the Panthers gives Murray State the tie breaker for the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
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-14 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 23.5 points per game, while Guffey is ranked 14th with 20.2 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 and Again
Senior Ashley Hayes has earned her sixth-straight OVC Player of the Week honor for her performance last week against Southeast Missouri State and Eastern Illinois.
The Humboldt, Tenn., native averaged 20.5 points and 12.0 rebounds last week. She has now recorded four straight double-doubles and has a team high 12 on the season. Hayes scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the loss at SEMO and followed that up with a 25-point , 12-rebound effort at EIU.
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.
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 16 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 16-game home winning streak puts Murray state 6th 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 83.6 percent of its free throws during the 2008-09 campaign in games through Feb. 22.
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 88.9 percent. That ranks her eighth in the nation. Amber Guffey is also ranked on the national list as No. 13 with an 88.2 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. 15, with an 88.1 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
The Racers will conclude the regular season this Saturday at the RSEC. Murray State will host Eastern Kentucky at 5:15 p.m. in a game that could help determine the final team to make the OVC Tournament. Murray State will have one more game in the RSEC, Tuesday, March 3 when they host the first round of the OVC Tournament. If the season ended now the Racers would host Jacksonville State, but depending on the outcome of the final two games of the season Murray State could play the Gamecocks, Tennessee Tech, or Eastern Kentucky.
Quick Plays
Senior Jessica Jackson tallied a season-high six rebounds against UT Martin...junior Jasmyne Thornton added a season-best three rebounds...the was a make-up date for the original game with the Skyhawks that was schedule for Jan. 31., the game was rescheduled due to the ice storm that cut off power and water to Western Kentucky for a week or more.
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