Murray State University Athletics
Racers Look For 10th OVC Victory at Austin Peay
2/6/2009 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Game
The Murray State women's basketball team will conclude one of the toughest road series in the Ohio Valley Conference this season with a stop in Clarksville, Tenn., to face third-place Austin Peay. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. at the Dunn Center Saturday, February 7.
About Austin Peay
The Lady Govs enter Saturday's game with a 13-10 overall record and a 9-3 mark in the OVC after defeating UT Martin Tuesday, 77-54. APSU is currently on a five-game winning streak that includes three home victories. Their 9-3 mark ranks them third in the conference standings, just a half game behind Eastern Illinois and one game behind the Racers.
During OVC action the Lady Govs have three players averaging double-digit point totals. Ashley Herring leads the team with 14.2 points per outing, while shooting 46 percent (57-of-124) from the field and 41.7 percent (20-of-48) from beyond the arc. April Thomas is next with 12.9 points and a team high 8.1 rebounds per game. She is also second on the team with her 52.1 percent (62-of-119) shooting percentage. Nicole James is the best shooter on the squad with 52.3 percent (57-of-109) of her shots connecting, she is averaging 12 points per game. Whitney Hanley is the final netting player over 10 points per game, with 11.9.
APSU is currently second in the OVC standings, behind Murray State, with its 70.3 points per game and third in scoring margin, with a +7.9. As a team the Lady Govs are recording a 44.8 shooting percentage, including a 35.1 percent mark from three-point range - again just one spot below the Racers in the OVC standings.
The second half of play has been much more productive for APSU this season. In all of their games they have tallied 661 points in the opening 20 minutes and then 812 in the second. They are also allowing their opponents to score more in the second half, but not by as much of a margin. Their opponents have tallied 677 points in the first and 748 in the second.
Against the Lady Govs
The Racers' “Big Three” almost scored enough against Austin Peay to earn the victory on their own in the last meeting between the two squads in the Regional Special Events Center. Ashley Hayes, Amber Guffey, and Paige Guffey combined to score 77 points in Murray State's 87-77 victory. Hayes led the way by recording her fourth-straight double-double of the season with 29 points and a season-high 14 rebounds. Amber Guffey added 27 points and her twin sister Paige Guffey tallied 21 points.
The Lady Govs had four players with double-digit performances. Brooke Faulkner led the way with 17 points, while April Thomas had a double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Ashley Herring chipped in 15 and Nicole James added 14.
Both teams had strong shooting performances, with the Racers shooting 50 percent (28-of-56) and Austin Peay earning a 43.5 (27-of-62) mark. Murray State used key advantages at the charity stripe and beyond the arc to claim the victory. The Racers netted eight of their 21 attempts (38.1%) from three-point range, while the Lady Govs only made four of their 14 shots (28.6%).
While both teams made it to the free-throw line close to the same number of times (25-27), Murray State connected on 92 percent (23-of-25) of their attempts and Austin Peay hit only 70.4 percent (19-of-27) of its shots with the clock stopped.
The Series
This will be the 76th meeting in the all-time series, with the Racers holding a 41-34 advantage. The Lady Govs currently have the upper hand in the series when playing in Clarksville, with a 23-14 mark, but Murray State has the victor in the last two road meetings.
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 not only give her the record for the most points scored by an Murray State basketball player - both men's and women's - but it also puts her at the top of the list for points scored in a game this season in NCAA Division I. The previous high was 44 by Shantia Grace (South Florida) Nov. 23, 2008.
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.
Icy Postponement
The Racers match-up against UT Martin originally scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 31 had to be rescheduled due to Winter Storm ?09 that rolled through the area last week. The game has been rescheduled for Monday, Feb. 23 at the Regional Special Events Center at 5:15 p.m.
Home Sweet Home
The Racers now have a 9-0 mark in the RSEC this season. The home winning streak dates back to Jan. 31, 2008 and currently stands at 13 games, the longest since Murray State moved to the RSEC. The last loss that the Racers suffered at home was Jan. 26, 2008 against the Redhawks.
The 13-game home winning streak puts Murray state in a tie for 13th in the country for the longest current home winning streak. The Racers current eight game winning streak also makes the NCAA list of current consecutive wins and puts them in a tie for 14th.
The longest home winning streak in team history is 19 games from Feb. 28, 1987 to Jan. 28, 1989.
Three-Peat
Murray State senior Ashley Hayes is proving why she was named the 2008-09 Preseason OVC Player of the Year, as she has been named the OVC Player of the Week for Jan. 26, marking her third-straight honor.
Hayes scored 30 points against Southeast Missouri, including 21 in the second half to spark the Racers (13-6, 8-1 OVC) to victory after the team trailed by seven at the half. It was the third time this season she tallied at least 30 points in a single game.
Against Eastern Illinois, she tied a career-high with five steals to go along with 16 points. For the week, Hayes averaged 23.0 points while shooting 51.4 percent from the floor.
Leaping Luckett
For two straight games junior Mallory Luckett turned on the scoring portion of her game, with double-digit point totals against Tennessee Tech and Eastern Illinois. The Louisville, Ky., native tied a career-high with 11 points against the Golden Eagles and then broke her own record with 14 points against the Panthers.
Post Production
Senior Angela Mullins had a strong performance against Eastern Illinois. The Madisonville, Ky., native was one of three players in double-digits in the points column. Mullins tied a season-high with 12 points against the Panthers and added a career best with three steals.
Mullins 12 points were part of 19 scored by forwards in the 60-51 victory over the Panthers, which give the Murray State sole possession of first place in the OVC standings.
Luckett Up For Nike Give 100% Contest
Junior Mallory Luckett has been named a top-10 finalist for the LiveStrong.com Nike Give 100% Contest. The contest recognizes those who live life to fullest.
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.
Working Way onto Watch List
Senior Amber Guffey can now add one more nomination to her list of honors for the 2008-09 campaign as she became the first Murray State women's basketball player to be named to the Naismith Trophy Watch List, awarded to the top women's basketball player in the nation.
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.
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.
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 82.6 percent (337-of-408) of its free throws during the 2008-09 campaign in games through Feb. 1.
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 90.7 percent, having missed only eight of her 86 attempts. That ranks her fifth in the nation. Ashley Hayes is also ranked on the national list as No. 19 with an 87.1 percent mark from the charity stripe. Amber Guffey is the third member of the MSU roster ranked in the national free-throw standings at No. 22. Amber has hit 134 of her 154 attempts for a 87.0 percent mark. She finished the 2007-08 campaign ranked sixth in the country with a 85.0 free-throw percentage.
Upcoming Schedule
After a two week absence Murray State will return to action in the RSEC next week. The Racers are scheduled to face Tennessee Tech, Thursday, Feb. 12 and Jacksonville State, Saturday, Feb. 14 at 5:15 p.m. The game against the Gamecocks has been chosen as Murray State Pink Zone game and will feature several events to help promote the awareness and support research to find a cure for breast cancer.
Quick Plays
Freshman Mallory Schwab scored her first points since Dec. 19, 2008 against Houston Baptist when she earned five at TSU...Paige Guffey tied a career best with six assists.
