Murray State University Athletics
Racers Make Name For Themselves on NCAA Statistical Charts
3/11/2009 5:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Heading into Selection Show Monday when the Murray State
women's basketball team will find out all the details of their WNIT bid, the
team and several of its members have showed that they are among the nation's
elite.
The Racers (22-8) are currently ranked in the top-15
among NCAA Division I teams in three statistical categories and in the top-50
in three more.
Murray State has spent most of the 2008-09 campaign at
the top of the country's free-throw percentage list, having been out of the No.
1 position only two weeks, and this week is no exception. The Racers have a team free-throw percentage
of 82.4 percent, almost one percent higher than the next team on the list, Utah
(81.5). Three players for the Racers
have taken most of the free throws this season and are the main reason for the
No. 1 team ranking in the category.
Senior Paige Guffey is in the No. 8 spot with a 88.7 free-throw
percentage, while her twin sister Amber Guffey is 10th (88.1), and
Ashley Hayes is 23rd (85.2).
Scoring has been a key to the Racers' success this
season. Not only is the team ranked No.
6 in scoring offense (77.6 points per game), but two of the Murray State
players are currently ranked in the top-10 in the nation in points scored per
game. Hayes is in the No. 6 spot (23.0
ppg) and senior Amber Guffey is ranked ninth (21.0 ppg). Murray State is the only team in the nation
to have two players ranked in the top-10 or even in the top-50 in the nation in
scoring.
The reason for their spots on the national lists is the
number of games that the Hayes and Amber Guffey have tallied over 30 points
this season. The duo have combined for a
Murray State single-season record of 11 30-point games, with Hayes earning
seven and Amber Guffey adding four.
Their success has put both on the 2008-09 Individual Points Scored
lists. Hayes has the No. 2 spot with her
Murray State career-record 46 points.
Hayes and Amber Guffey are also tied for No. 17 with 36 points.
Murray State is also ranked in the top-50 among NCAA
Division I women's teams in turnovers per game (15th), three-point
field goals per game (16th), field-goal percentage (22nd),
and win-loss percentage (42nd).
Individually the “Big Three” for the Racers are ranked in
eight of the 10 individual categories.
Hayes and Amber Guffey are both ranked in five categories, while Paige Guffey has her name in the top-100 in three.
Besides points per game and free-throw percentage, Hayes is in the
top-100 in rebounds (35th), field-goal percentage (64rd), and three-point
field-goal percentage. Guffey is among
the nation's best in points per game, free-throw percentage, assists per game
(28th), field-goal percentage (80th), and assist-turnover
ratio (41st). Paige Guffey is
also seen on the three-point field-goal percentage (57th) and three-point
field goals per game charts (100).
Murray State's success in the Regional Special Events
Center in the past two seasons also has the team putting its name in the
2008-09 record books. The team's 19-game
home-winning streak is currently the fifth longest in the country and the
longest in school history.
The Racers will find out late Monday, March 16th the location and opponent for their third WNIT appearance.
