Murray State University Athletics
Racers Look To Earn First OVC Championship Out-Right Saturday
2/27/2009 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Going for the Title Out-Right
The Murray State women's basketball team will be looking to claim the 2008-09 Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship out-right when they face Eastern Kentucky, Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Regional Special Events Center at 5:15 p.m.
About Eastern Kentucky
The Lady Colonels head into Saturday's game needing a win to take the final seed in the OVC Tournament. EKU snapped an 11-game losing streak Thursday with a 63-60 win over UT Martin to improve to 7-19 overall and 4-13 in the league. The victory on the road was the first in conference action this season and just the second overall.
Freshman Kayla Drake is the key player for the Lady Colonels. Drake is averaging 14.8 points per game against league opponents, while shooting 33 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from beyond the arc. Nadia Mossong is the team's leading rebounder with 7.3 boards per game.
Connecting on shots has not been the best for the Lady Colonels this season. The team is shooting 35.9 percent from the floor (10th in the OVC) and 28.4 percent from three-point range (9th in the OVC).
The second half has been stronger for EKU this year. The Lady Colonels have been out-scored by 96 points in the first half and dropped that mark to 65 in the second. EKU has also produced 140 more points in the second stanza.
Against the Lady Colonels
A strong shooting and defensive night allowed Murray State to earn a 73-61 victory over Eastern Kentucky in the first OVC game of the 2008-09 campaign.
The Racers were led by Ashley Hayes, who tallied 25 points and eight rebounds. Murray State also saw double-digit performances from Amber Guffey, Paige Guffey, and Mallory Luckett. All three Racers tallied 11 points, with the total being a then-career-high for Luckett.
Murray State shot 50 percent (25-of-50) from the field during the game to the Colonels 38.6 percent (22-of-57) to help lead the Racers to the win. Murray State also capitalized with 25 points off EKU's 19 turnovers to help with the difference in the score. The Colonels earned an advantage in the rebounding column, 36 to 30, including a 12 to six mark on the offensive boards.
Another key to the win was holding EKU's Kayla Drake to just 11 points. Drake came into the game averaging 19.6 points per game for the Colonels. Nadia Mossong was the team's leading point scorer with 21.
The Series
The Lady Colonels currently own a 48-26 advantage in the all-time series, but with the win at EKU earlier this season the Racers have gone 6-2 against the Lady Colonels in the past four seasons. The series in Murray also stands in favor of EKU, at 24-11.
OVC Champions
With the come-from-behind victory over Morehead State Thursday, the Racers claimed at least a share of their first OVC regular-season title. The win also locked up the No. 1 seed in the OVC tournament that starts next Tuesday. It is the second OVC championship in two seasons for Murray State after earning the 2007-08 OVC Tournament title.
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 Morehead State Thursday, the Racers claimed at least a share of their first OVC regular-season championship. A win tonight will claim the title outright. The Racers also clinched the No. 1 seed in the OVC tournament and will now have to wait to see who they will face in the first round, Tuesday, March 3 at the RSEC. The only two teams that Murray State could face are Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky.
20-Win Season
Murray State tallied its 20th victory on the season against Morehead State. The mark gave the Racers their fifth 20-win season in school history, and the third in a row (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09). The previous two 20-win seasons were 1987-88 and 1988-89 under head coach Bud Childers.
A win Saturday would also give Murray State one more milestone, its 200th OVC victory. The Racers started the season with a 185-241 and they are now 199-243 all-time against league opponents.
Home Sweet Home
The Racers now have a 12-0 mark in the RSEC this season. The home winning streak dates back to Jan. 31, 2008 and currently stands at 17 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 17-game home winning streak puts Murray state 5th 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.
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. 6 position with 23.3 points per game, while Guffey is ranked 14th 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 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 a 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.
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 83.0 percent of its free throws during the 2008-09 campaign in games through Feb. 26.
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. Amber Guffey leads the team and the OVC with 88.1 percent. That ranks her 12th in the nation. She finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked sixth in the country with a 85.0 free-throw percentage. Paige Guffey is also ranked on the national list as No. 13 with an 87.9 percent mark from the charity stripe. Ashley Hayes is the third member of the MSU roster ranked in the national free-throw standings at No. 18, with an 86.8 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 next game for the Racers will be the first round of the OVC tournament, Tuesday, March 3 in the RSEC. Game time has been set for 5:15 p.m. A win would send Murray State to the semifinals in Nashville at the end of the week.
Quick Plays
Freshman Kayla Lowe recorded a double-digit point total for the first time in her career against Morehead State...Lowe tallied 10 points and a career-best seven rebounds...junior Mallory Luckett tallied her first double-digit rebounding total with 10.
The Murray State women's basketball team will be looking to claim the 2008-09 Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship out-right when they face Eastern Kentucky, Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Regional Special Events Center at 5:15 p.m.
About Eastern Kentucky
The Lady Colonels head into Saturday's game needing a win to take the final seed in the OVC Tournament. EKU snapped an 11-game losing streak Thursday with a 63-60 win over UT Martin to improve to 7-19 overall and 4-13 in the league. The victory on the road was the first in conference action this season and just the second overall.
Freshman Kayla Drake is the key player for the Lady Colonels. Drake is averaging 14.8 points per game against league opponents, while shooting 33 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from beyond the arc. Nadia Mossong is the team's leading rebounder with 7.3 boards per game.
Connecting on shots has not been the best for the Lady Colonels this season. The team is shooting 35.9 percent from the floor (10th in the OVC) and 28.4 percent from three-point range (9th in the OVC).
The second half has been stronger for EKU this year. The Lady Colonels have been out-scored by 96 points in the first half and dropped that mark to 65 in the second. EKU has also produced 140 more points in the second stanza.
Against the Lady Colonels
A strong shooting and defensive night allowed Murray State to earn a 73-61 victory over Eastern Kentucky in the first OVC game of the 2008-09 campaign.
The Racers were led by Ashley Hayes, who tallied 25 points and eight rebounds. Murray State also saw double-digit performances from Amber Guffey, Paige Guffey, and Mallory Luckett. All three Racers tallied 11 points, with the total being a then-career-high for Luckett.
Murray State shot 50 percent (25-of-50) from the field during the game to the Colonels 38.6 percent (22-of-57) to help lead the Racers to the win. Murray State also capitalized with 25 points off EKU's 19 turnovers to help with the difference in the score. The Colonels earned an advantage in the rebounding column, 36 to 30, including a 12 to six mark on the offensive boards.
Another key to the win was holding EKU's Kayla Drake to just 11 points. Drake came into the game averaging 19.6 points per game for the Colonels. Nadia Mossong was the team's leading point scorer with 21.
The Series
The Lady Colonels currently own a 48-26 advantage in the all-time series, but with the win at EKU earlier this season the Racers have gone 6-2 against the Lady Colonels in the past four seasons. The series in Murray also stands in favor of EKU, at 24-11.
OVC Champions
With the come-from-behind victory over Morehead State Thursday, the Racers claimed at least a share of their first OVC regular-season title. The win also locked up the No. 1 seed in the OVC tournament that starts next Tuesday. It is the second OVC championship in two seasons for Murray State after earning the 2007-08 OVC Tournament title.
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 Morehead State Thursday, the Racers claimed at least a share of their first OVC regular-season championship. A win tonight will claim the title outright. The Racers also clinched the No. 1 seed in the OVC tournament and will now have to wait to see who they will face in the first round, Tuesday, March 3 at the RSEC. The only two teams that Murray State could face are Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky.
20-Win Season
Murray State tallied its 20th victory on the season against Morehead State. The mark gave the Racers their fifth 20-win season in school history, and the third in a row (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09). The previous two 20-win seasons were 1987-88 and 1988-89 under head coach Bud Childers.
A win Saturday would also give Murray State one more milestone, its 200th OVC victory. The Racers started the season with a 185-241 and they are now 199-243 all-time against league opponents.
Home Sweet Home
The Racers now have a 12-0 mark in the RSEC this season. The home winning streak dates back to Jan. 31, 2008 and currently stands at 17 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 17-game home winning streak puts Murray state 5th 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.
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. 6 position with 23.3 points per game, while Guffey is ranked 14th 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 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 a 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.
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 83.0 percent of its free throws during the 2008-09 campaign in games through Feb. 26.
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. Amber Guffey leads the team and the OVC with 88.1 percent. That ranks her 12th in the nation. She finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked sixth in the country with a 85.0 free-throw percentage. Paige Guffey is also ranked on the national list as No. 13 with an 87.9 percent mark from the charity stripe. Ashley Hayes is the third member of the MSU roster ranked in the national free-throw standings at No. 18, with an 86.8 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 next game for the Racers will be the first round of the OVC tournament, Tuesday, March 3 in the RSEC. Game time has been set for 5:15 p.m. A win would send Murray State to the semifinals in Nashville at the end of the week.
Quick Plays
Freshman Kayla Lowe recorded a double-digit point total for the first time in her career against Morehead State...Lowe tallied 10 points and a career-best seven rebounds...junior Mallory Luckett tallied her first double-digit rebounding total with 10.
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