Murray State University Athletics
Racers Ready to Tangle with Jacksonville State in OVC Quarterfinals
3/2/2009 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Quarterfinals
The Murray State women's basketball team earned the No. 1 seed in the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and will host No. 8 Jacksonville State in one of four quarterfinal games on campus sites. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. at the Regional Special Events Center, Tuesday, March 3, with the winning team advancing to the semifinals in Nashville, Friday, March 6.
About Jacksonville State
The Gamecocks enter Tuesday's game on a three-game losing streak and have won just three of their last 10 games on the season. JSU is now 7-22 overall and 4-14 in the OVC in 2008-09.
Jolie Efezokhae and Brittany Wiley are the top scoring duo for the Gamecocks this season. Efezokhae is garnering 13 points per game, while Wiley added 10.2. The pair are also the top rebounders for JSU with 6.8 and 4.9 board per game, respectively. Efezokhae has the best shooting percentage on the year for the Gamecocks, with a 45.7 mark. She can also cause a lot of problems for opponents defense as she had knocked down 39 shots this year and added 33 steals. Wiley is one of the top three-point shooters on the team. She is connecting on 34.1 percent of her shots, while Zenobia Pitts takes the most three-pointers (117) and has made 35 percent.
As a team JSU is averaging 36.6 percent from the field and 30.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Gamecocks opponents are making 39.9 percent of their shots and 33.1 percent of those from three-point range. The one statistical area that JSU has a clear advantage in is blocked shots. The Gamecocks swat away 4.6 of their opponents attempts per game, while only having 2.4 of their shots.
The Racers will have to look out for the late surge that JSU has been doing this season. The Gamecocks have tallied 722 points in the first half and then tallied 932 (210 more) in the second half. Their opponents have also produced more in the second stanza, with 143 more points.
Against the Gamecocks
The 2008-09 series between JSU and Murray State was a tale of two games. While the Racers earned a win in both meetings, the game at JSU was a lot closer. Shooting percentages for both teams were also strikingly different in the two games. At JSU both teams shot over 50 percent from the field (55-54.5), and over 37 percent from three-point range (41.7-37.5). When the teams battled in the RSEC later in the season the shooting percentages were much lower. Murray State went 38.8 percent from the field and 20 percent from beyond the arc, while the Gamecocks connected on just 36.4 percent of their overall shots and 26.3 percent of three-pointers.
One player didn't seem to mind where the game was being played and tallied over 30 points in each outing. The Racers Ashley Hayes tallied 32 at JSU and added another 30 in the RSEC. When in Jacksonville Amber Guffey added 33 points, while Paige Guffey landed 22. The duo each added 13 in Murray.
Murray State did a better job on the defense side of the court when they were at home. At JSU Jolie Efezokhae tallied 27 points, Brittany Wiley added 23 and Zenobia Pitts garnered 13. When the team's traded home courts the Racers held everyone but Wiley to under 10 points, with Wiley recording 12.
The Series
The series with the Gamecocks is the youngest against OVC opponents and currently stands at 9-2 in favor of the Racers. Murray State has been the victor in the last six games in the series, with this being the first post-season meeting between the two teams.
OVC Champions!
With the 80-60 victory over Eastern Kentucky Saturday, Murray State claimed the 2008-09 OVC regular-season championship for themselves. The Racers finished 16-2 in the OVC standings to take their first regular-season title in school history. It was the first time since 2004-05 that a team has claimed the title with less than three loses on the year.
In the OVC Tournament
This will be the third-straight season that Murray State has hosted a first-round game in the OVC Tournament and the team's 16th appearance overall. The Racers are 10-15 all-time in the OVC post-season, including a 5-8 mark in the quarterfinals. Murray State is 3-9 in the quarterfinals since the conference started playing the first round on campus sites, with two of the wins coming in the RSEC.
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.
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 13-0 mark in the RSEC this season. The home winning streak dates back to Jan. 31, 2008 and currently stands at 18 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 18-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.
The Lowe Down
Freshman Kayla Lowe had the best weekend of her young career. The rookie tallied career bests with 10 points and seven rebounds against Morehead State. The Pikeville, Ky., native followed that performance with nine points, two offensive rebounds, and a block against Eastern Kentucky.
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 23.1 points per game, while Guffey is ranked 14th with 20.4 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.
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 83.2 percent of its free throws during the 2008-09 campaign in games through March 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 88.5 percent. That ranks her 11th in the nation. Amber Guffey is also ranked on the national list as No. 12 with an 88.4 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. 19, with an 85.8 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
A win Tuesday will send the Racers to Nashville for the semifinals of the 2009 OVC Tournament. Murray State would play the winner of the No. 4 Morehead State vs. No. 5 Austin Peay match-up at noon, Friday, March 6. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday, March 7 at 3 p.m.
Quick Plays
Senior Jessica Jackson recorded her first-career start in the Racers Senior Night...in the first four minutes of the game she tallied two rebounds and added an assist...Murray State only allowed the Lady Colonels to get to the charity stripe seven times.
