Free Throws Determine Winner in 83-79 Loss at Austin Peay

Saturday, January 9

Clarksville, Tenn.

2 p.m.

Murray State

Austin Peay

Free Throws Determine Winner in 83-79 Loss at Austin Peay

1/9/2010 11:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

The Murray State women's basketball team lost a hard fought game to Austin Peay that came down to free throws in the final five minutes of the game. The Lady Govs (5-12, 4-2 Ohio Valley Conference) earned the 83-79 victory over the Racers (6-10, 1-4 OVC) at the Dunn Center.

MSU was down by 10, with just under seven minutes left to play, when the Racers went on a 12-2 run over the next 4:30 to tie the game at 70. The Lady Gov's jumper at 5:12 was the last time that MSU let APSU score a basket in the game. However the Lady Govs capitalized on free points at the charity stripe, hitting 13-of-18 attempts in the final five minutes of the game. During the same span the Racers recorded 16 points to keep the score close, but could do any better than a one-point lead.

MSU was led by senior Kayla Vance and sophomore Rachael Isom, who both recorded 20 points. Senior Mallory Luckett also tallied double-digits for the Racers, adding 13.

The Lady Govs earned the first points of the game 20 seconds in, but the Racers went on a 5-0 run over the next 2:30 to take the lead. MSU held a 1-4 point advantage for the next four minutes before APSU used a 10-0 run over a 2:30 span to take a six point lead. The Lady Govs kept the advantage between 6-8 points until the Racers hit two triples in 30 seconds to cut the lead to two with just under six minutes left in the first half.

The teams then traded runs over the next minute, but APSU countered with an 11-0 run from 4:10 to 1:40 to increase its lead to 15 points. MSU made a final push in the last 55 seconds of the half to head into the locker room with an 11-point deficit, 36-47.

The Racers continued to push the tempo of the game at the start of the second half, holding the Lady Govs without a field goal for almost the first three minutes of the second stanza. MSU continued its run from the end of the first; with a 12-1 run that cut the deficit to four points (44-48). Once APSU hit its first bucket of the half it started a 7-0 run that rebuilt the lead to 11 points.

Both teams then traded six point runs for the next eight minutes, but the Racers could not get any closer than seven points. With five minutes left to play both teams picked up the defensive pressure and held each other scoreless for 1:30. The Racers were the first to break the scoreless drought and went on a 16-13 run to end the game without allowing the Lady Govs to garner another basket.

Free throws were key for both teams, with APSU making 21 of their 29 attempts (72.4%). MSU went 19-of-22 from the charity stripe, for their second best free-throw percentage of the season at 86.4%. The teams were almost even on shot attempts and makes in the game, as the Racers made 27-of-58 attempts and the Lady Govs hit 28-of-59 shots. Both teams went 6-of-13 from beyond the arc.

The Racers will return to the Regional Special Events Center for a weekend OVC series with Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech. MSU faces the Gamecocks, Thursday, Jan. 14 and the Golden Eagles, Saturday, Jan. 16. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 5:15 p.m.

Notes: This was the first loss at the Dunn Center for the Racers since Feb. 2, 2006…there was a 28 minute delay at the end of the first half due to an injured player...Vance hit nine of her 10 free throw attempts in the game for a new career high…Vance also recorded a career-best two steals…sophomore Tessa Elkins had career highs for rebounds (6), assists (2), steals (3) and free throws (4).

Quotes
Head Coach Rob Cross
“We played with the energy we needed to play with for 40 minutes for about 30 minutes tonight.”

“They made free throws down the stretch and we missed a couple. Any possession can be a game changing one and we saw that tonight.”

“The team is proud of their effort to get back into the game tonight. They also understand how hard they have to play to win at this level. Now the trick is to get them to do it for a full 40 minutes.”