Racers Late Push Comes Up Just Short Against Southern Illinois

Saturday, December 18

CFSB Center

5 p.m.

Murray State

Southern Illinois

Jessica Winfrey tallied six points and 10 rebounds for the Racers against Southern Illinois.

Photo by: Tommy Dillard

Racers Late Push Comes Up Just Short Against Southern Illinois

12/18/2010 10:46:47 PM | Women's Basketball

The Murray State women's basketball team made a late push in the last five minutes of the game, but the would-be come-back fell just short against Southern Illinois. The Racers (2-8, 0-2 OVC) fell to the Salukis (2-8, 0-0 MVC) 62-61 in the first game in the CFSB Center in over a month.

Box Score

MSU was led by sophomore Mariah Robinson, who tallied 20 points and added four steals. Redshirt-freshman Jessica Winfrey led the Racers with 10 rebounds, including six offensive, and added six points. Junior Kayla Lowe, missed the first half of action and came back strong in the second half, garnering eight points and four rebounds.

The first half started with the Racers finding themselves down early. This time the Salukis opened the first two minutes of the game on a 4-0 run. However, the Racers countered with an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to take the lead, 11-4. SIU then held MSU without a field goal for five minutes, but free throws kept the Racers in the game, as the Salukis went on a 12-4 run. Again MSU went on its own run, this time 7-0, to take the lead again with just under six minutes left to play in the first half. The teams then battled the rest of the stanza, but the Racers went into the locker room with a 28-26 lead.

The teams opened the second half by trading points before the Salukis started a 9-0 run to take the lead over a four-minute span. Both teams then went long stretches without scoring and when they did get back on the scoreboard they traded baskets. The SIU lead was cut to just one point (45-46) with nine minutes to play before another 9-0 Saluki run increased the advantage back to 10 points.

In the final five minutes of action the Racers started a final fight that was matched by SIU at first. With 1:45 left on the clock MSU went on a 10-0 run that tied the game and gave the Racers a 61-59 advantage, with 21 seconds left on the clock. Freshman Mary Jehlik was a large part of the run, scoring five-straight points in the final 20 seconds of the run. However, the Salukis' Teri Oliver was able to get open on the wing and sank a three-pointer with 13 seconds remaining to give SIU the lead again. The Racers had one last chance, but a jumper by Robinson with three seconds left on the clock fell just short.

Rebounds and shooting percentage were keys to the game, with SIU earning advantages in both columns. The Salukis out-rebounded MSU 46-29 and shot 46.2 percent to the Racers' 31.7. SIU also shot 50 percent from three-point range, while MSU hit just 28.6 percent of their triples. The Racers did get to the free-throw line 17 times (15 makes), to the Salukis' eight (5 makes) and recorded only 13 turnovers to SIU's 26.

The Racers will return to the road for one game at UT Martin, Wednesday, Dec. 22 before taking a break for the holidays. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Elam Center. MSU will then be at home for a four-game home stand starting Dec. 30 against SIU Edwardsville.

Notes: Allison Karst earned her first career start…Robinson tallied 20 points for the second time this season and the third in her career.