Racers Headed to Thanksgiving Tournament - Battle with No. 8/9 Kentucky

Friday, November 26

Hattiesburg, Miss.

7:30 p.m.

Murray State

Kentucky

Junior Kayla Lowe is one of two players averaging double-digit point totals for the Racers this season.

Racers Headed to Thanksgiving Tournament - Battle with No. 8/9 Kentucky

11/23/2010 3:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball

For the fourth-straight season the Murray State women's basketball team will be participating in a Thanksgiving tournament. This year the Racers (2-2) will be heading to Hattiesburg, Miss., to play in the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Tournament hosted by Southern Miss. MSU's first opponent is 8/9-ranked Kentucky, Friday, Nov. 26 at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's game times are 2 p.m. (Consolations) and 4:30 p.m. (Championship), with the Racers facing either the host Lady Eagles or Louisiana-Lafayette.

Scouting Kentucky
The Wildcats are currently ranked No. 8/9 in the national polls after starting the season with a 3-0 record. Their last outing was against No. 12 Notre Dame, a game which they won 81-76. This will be the first ranked opponent that MSU has played since Nov. 28, 2008 when the Racers faced then-No. 21 Florida State at the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational in Denver, Colo.

UK has a strong team this season, with five players already averaging double digits in the points column. Victoria Dunlap is the teams leader across the court, with 19.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 4.3 steals, 3.3 blocks and 2.7 assists per game. She is shooting 38.1 percent (16-of-42) from the field and 78.8 percent (26-of-33) from the charity stripe.

The Wildcats have a strong overall game, shooting 41.3 percent from the field, making 25.3 free throws per game and forcing 27 turnovers. The only area of the season box score that UK trails its opponents is in rebounding, with the difference being only five (39-44).

The Wildcats turn up their production a little in the second half of action, having scored 45 more points in the second stanza. Their opponents have only added 23 more points than in the opening stanza.

The Series
UK owns a 15-2 advantage in the all-time series, including winning the last 13 games. The last time the teams met, was Feb. 23, 1994 in Racer Arena and the Wildcats earned a 74-67 victory. The last MSU win was March 2, 1973 (59-47).

Scouting Southern Miss
The Lady Eagles head into this weekends tournament with a 2-1 overall record after earning a win over UNO Nov. 21 (85-37).

USM has four players averaging double-digit point totals. Tanes Washington leads the team with 11.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, while also tallying 11 steals and a 45.2 shooting percentage (14-of-31).

The Lady Eagles are a strong shooting team from the field, with a 46.8 percentage (89-of-190). However their three-point shooting percentage is only 18.2, but they have only attempted 22 triples. Their opponents are making 7.3 three's per game and hitting them at a 33.4 rate.

USM seems to have strong defense in the first half, as they have allowed 22 more points and scored only eight more in the second stanza.

The Series
The Racers and the Lady Eagles have only met on one previous occasion. USM earned a 91-59 win, Jan. 1, 1993 in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Scouting Louisiana-Lafayette
The Ragin' Cajuns are 1-1 overall, but play Southern, Tuesday, Nov. 23 before heading to the tournament.

ULL has two players with double-digit point averages on the season after its first two games. Mercedes Johnson lead the team with 17 points and has three rebounds per game. She is also shooting 50 percent (13-of-26) from the field.

The Ragin' Cajuns are a strong shooting team, with a 44.0 percentage (44-of-100). Their rebounding numbers are not high, but that is because of their shooting percentage and that of their opponents. ULL's opponents are shooting 41.4 percent (48-of-116) from the field. Three-pointers are not a large part of the team's shooting averages, as they are netting 2.5 per game and attempting only nine.

The Series
The Ragin' Cajuns own a 1-0 lead in the all-time series. The lone previous meeting took place in Starkville, Miss., with ULL earning an 85-75 win.

Lowe Double-Double
Junior Kayla Lowe had a strong performance for the Racers against Evansville. Not only did the Pikeville, Ky., native tally a career-high 10 rebounds, but she also recorded her first career double-double after adding 11 points. Lowe's previous high in the rebounding column was eight, set against Morehead State last season in the first round of the OVC Championship (March 2).

On the Road Again
The tournament games are part of a seven game road trip that accounts for the third-longest road trip in school history. The Racers have been on the road for seven-straight games in six previous season, with the most recent being the 1990-00 campaign. The longest road trip in school history is 11 games during the 1996-97 season. MSU has also been on the road for nine-straight games (1988-89).

Continuing Streaks
Four members of the MSU team that returned from the 2009-10 season have continued streaks that they started a year ago. Junior Rachael Isom has been a key force for the Racers since last season, scoring at least one point in 39 straight games, recording a rebound in 18, adding an assist in eight and has started the last 34 games. Fellow junior Kayla Lowe has started the last 13 games and junior Mallory Schwab has a rebound in the last 12. Sophomore Mariah Robinson in the final returner with a streak, tallying a rebound in the last 18 games.

Jessica Jumping Right In
Redshirt-freshman Jessica Winfrey wasted no time making a name for herself with the Racers. The Marion, Ark., native may have sat out the 2009-10 campaign, but immediately earned a starting role in 2010-11. She is averaging 7.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per game for MSU. She has made her last seven free-throws and has scored at least one point and garnered a rebound in every game so far this season. Winfrey also has a streak of three games in progress with a block.

Mahurin Signs for 2011-12
Beth Mahurin, a 6-4 post player from Rockville High School in Rockville, Ind., will join the Racers starting in the 2011-12 campaign after signing during the early signing period.

Mahurin is a top scorer, rebounder and defender for the Rox. As a junior she averaged 17 points, 15 rebounds (third in the state), six blocks (first in the state) and a field goal percentage of 63. She is the top returning player in the state of Indiana in rebounds and blocks. Her 63.0 shooting percentage was third among Indiana players in 2009-10 and her 17 points per game rank her 13th among returners for Indiana.

During her junior season Mahurin was named the Indiana Fever Player of the Week following a 34 point, 24 rebound, and eight block performance. The two-time All- Wabash River Conference selection is also a standout in the classroom and is an honor roll student.

Mahurin had a very productive junior season that led her to being named to the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Junior All-State team and was a member of the Indiana Class All-Star 3/4A game participant. She was named a Pre-Season Hoosier Basketball Magazine All-State second team member as a junior and was recently elevated to the Pre-Season Hoosier Basketball Magazine All-State first team for her senior season as well as being a McDonald's All-American nominee.

No Senior Leadership
After fighting through an injury plagued year in 2009-10 the Murray State women's basketball team will be in a select group of NCAA DI teams this season that will allow them to use the drive and determination they discovered last year, as the roster has no seniors listed. The Racers are one of seven programs in the country with no seniors on the 2010-11 roster, a list which includes MSU opponent Purdue.

New Season New Name
Murray State University's Regional Special Events Center (RSEC) will now be known as the CFSB Center, thanks to the largest gift in Murray State athletics history. CFSB (Community Financial Services Bank) donated $3.3 million to MSU's athletic program securing naming rights of the facility.

OVC Tournament Changes
This year the OVC Tournament will all be contested at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., from March 2-5. The top two teams in the regular-season standings will earn byes into the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. This is the first season that the conference will bring all eight teams to one venue for the entire tournament, as in the past the first-round games have been played on campus sites.

Up Next
After the Thanksgiving tournament, the Racers will open the Ohio Valley Conference portion of the season, with away games at Eastern Kentucky (Dec. 2) and Morehead State (Dec. 4). The final game of the long road trip will be Dec. 12 at Purdue.