Hayes Pushes Racers Past Tigers with Record Setting 46 Points

Wednesday, February 4

Nashville, Tenn.

5:30 p.m.

Murray State

Tennessee State

Hayes Pushes Racers Past Tigers with Record Setting 46 Points

2/4/2009 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Despite a slow start after 12 days of rest the Murray State women's basketball team was led to victory by senior Ashley Hayes, who set a new Racer record for points scored by an individual player in a game. The Humboldt, Tenn., native tallied 46 points to help Murray State to a 97-93 victory over Tennessee State in Nashville, Tenn.

The previous school record was 43 points recorded by Joi Scot, Feb. 16, 2006, ironically in the Gentry Center against the Lady Tigers. Hayes set the record with 1:07 left in the game with two shots from the charity stripe.

“I can't say enough about Ashley Hays,” said head coach Rob Cross. “I was here when Joi Scott made her 43 points here a couple of years ago and I thought that was the most amazing thing. This was a better performance. I don't think that I have seen any one put up as great of a performance as this at any level. Tonight was great for her and I am grateful she is on our team.”

Hayes also added 10 rebounds and earned her record 46 points on career high's in field goals (14), three-point field goal (7), and free throws (11-for-11).

“It feels good,” said senior Ashley Hayes. “I didn't even know that I had set a record. I feel blessed that I can do things both on the court and off to help my teammates.”

The Racers (14-6, 9-1 Ohio Valley Conference) also saw double-digit performances from senior Amber Guffey (26 points), and Paige Guffey (14 points).

The unexpected 12-day break left the Racers with a little bit of ice to brush off at the beginning of the game. The Lady Tigers (12-11, 8-4 OVC) opened the scoring six seconds into the game and earned the first four points before Murray State was able to remove the goose egg from the scoreboard with 18:29 left in the first half. Both teams then turned up the defense and kept the score low (4-8) heading into the first media time out.

The Racers then broke free of their cold shooting and tied the game at 10 on two consecutive three pointers from Amber Guffey The teams continued to battle to see who could control the scoreboard, with each using 5-0 runs from 12 minutes to 10 minutes left to play in the opening stanza.

The score remained within three points for the rest of the half, with Murray State leading most of the time. Defense seemed to be a key focus for the teams as they held each other from scoring for several minutes during the last 10 minutes of play. The game was tied at 35 with 35 seconds left before Hayes hit her season-high fifth three-pointer on the night with 10 ticks left to give the Racers a 38-35 lead heading into the locker room.

The 15-minute rest rejuvenated the Lady Tigers, as they came out in the second half and went on an 8-2 run in the first two minutes to retake the lead, 43-40. TSU led for most of the half and continued to extend its lead to as many as 10 points, with just over nine minutes left to play. Murray State then started a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to cut the advantage to three.

In the final seven minutes of the game the Racers turned on the scoring and continued to push the deficit lower until they were able to regain the lead with 5:21 remaining in the game. Murray State used a 7-3 run during the span to gain the advantage and never let the Lady Tigers get any closer than one point the rest of the game.

The Racers used the next five minutes to push their lead to as many and eight points, including the key point by Hayes to set the school record. In the final 45 seconds of the game TSU tried to mount a come-back that nearly succeeded. Kendra Appling and Tiffany Jackson stepped up their performances on offense and defense. The duo combined to score eight points and add two steals to cut the lead to two points with 11 seconds left on the clock.

Murray State utilized its final time-out after in-bounding the ball and getting caught in the corner, but Appling fouled Hayes and sent her to the free-throw line to score the final two points of the game.

Both teams had strong shooting nights, with each shooting over 45 percent from the field and from beyond the arc. The Lady Tigers shot 52.7 percent from the filed and 46.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Racers shot 45.8 percent from the field and hit 15 of their 31 attempts from three-point range (48.4%) and set a season-best with their 15 made threes.

While neither team attempted a free throw in the first half Murray State earned the advantage from the charity stripe in the second. The Racers went to the line 31 times and connected on 28, while TSU only attempted 11 and made nine.

Murray State will now prepare for its next outing, Saturday, February 7 at Austin Peay. Game time is set for 5:15 p.m. at the Dunn Center.

Notes: Freshman Mallory Schwab sparked one of the Racers' 5-0 runs in the first half with her first points since Dec. 19, 2008 against Houston Baptist...Hayes recorded 10 points by the 12 minute mark in the first half and had 21 at the end of the first 20 minutes...Hayes recorded her eighth double-double on the year... Paige Guffey tied a career best with six assists.

Quotes

Head Coach Rob Cross

“We are really excited to get a win on the road against one of the top teams in the league. Tennessee State is very talented. Kendra Appling and Tiffany Jackson are two of the top players in the league. Having top players matched up together is what it came down to. Ashley Hayes and Amber Guffey are great players as well and what it came down to was great players making plays at the end of the game.”