Racers Return to Action After Week Long Holiday Break

Game 12
Murray State (2-9, 0-3 OVC) vs. SIU Edwardsville (2-10)
Location: Murray, Ky.
Arena: CFSB Center
Time: 5:15 p.m.

The Game
After a seven-day break for the holidays, the Murray State women's basketball team returns to action at the CFSB Center for the first of four-straight games. The first opponent in the longest home stand of the 2010-11 season will be SIU Edwardsville, with tip-off scheduled for 5:15 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 30.

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Scouting SIU Edwardsville
The Cougars are 2-10 overall after dropping their last game before the holiday break at Indiana State, making it six losses in a row for SIUE. The Cougars are in their last season as an independent NCAA DI team and will be competing in an OVC schedule next season, but will still not be eligible for post-season play until the 2012-13 season. So far in 2010-11, SIUE has faced two OVC opponents (APSU, Morehead State) and is 1-1 in those games.

The Cougars have three key players, who all shoot over .400 from the field. Jazmin Hill is averaging 12.8 points per game, while Raven Berry is netting 9.6 points, 7.0 rebounds per game and leading the team with a 43.9 shooting percentage. The other member of the trio is Syndey Stahlberg, who is shooting 43.6 percent from the field.

As a team, SIUE is hitting 35.1 percent of its shots, but its opponents are shooting at a .469 clip. The difference is the same with shots taken from three-point range (.284 to .371).

The Cougars have disadvantages in all statistical categories on the season box score, including being out-scored by 14 points per game. The disadvantage in the rebounding column is smaller, at just -3.5 boards per game.

The Series
The Racers and SIUE have faced each other three times before, with the last meeting coming in 1987. The first two meetings went to MSU at home, but the last went in favor of the Cougars. SIUE earned an 87-76 victory in the lone game in Edwardsville (Dec. 13, 1987).

Robinson Stepping Up In Conference Play
Sophomore Mariah Robinson has stepped up her performance since the start of the OVC season. She has recorded a double-digit point total in all three games, with 21, 20 and 19 points. The Beaver Dame, Ky., native has also shot over .415 from the field and .444 from beyond the arc in the three league games, made 11-of-12 free throws and added two blocks and nine steals. Since the start of OVC play she has tallied a double-digit point total in four of the last five games.

Jessica Jumping Right In
Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey has been a stable force for the Racers in her first season on the court. The Marion, Ark., native is first on the team in rebounding, averaging 7.9 boards per game, and third in scoring (9.5 ppg). She has tallied two double-doubles in three conference games, including her second at UT Martin (16 points, 10 rebounds). Her talents on the court have led to her scoring at least one point and adding at least one rebound in every Racers game this season, while also recording 11 steals and four blocks.

Mary Moving In
Freshman Mary Jehlik has earned a starting role in the last three games, beginning at Purdue (Dec. 12). The Mount Sterling, Ky., native has tallied career bests in points, rebounding, and shooting percentage since her advancement on the bench. She recorded a career-high seven rebounds in her first start at Purdue, and has increased her scoring bests to seven and nine in the last two outings. She also shot 50 percent from the field (3-of-6) against UT Martin.

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.

The youthful roster has just nine years of NCAA collegiate experience on it, which ranks third among OVC teams for the least amount of NCAA collegiate experience. The only teams with fewer years of experience than the Racers are UT Martin (3) and Eastern Illinois (8).

Lowe Down Against the Eagles
Junior Kayla Lowe, a native of Pikeville, Ky., seems to love being back home in the eastern portion of the state. Lowe has tallied 15-or-more points in three of the last four games played in that area of the state. The trend started with a 15-point performance against Morehead State (Feb. 25) and was followed by a 28-point performance less than a week later in the same gym (March 2). Lowe then tallied 15 points against Eastern Kentucky (Dec. 2) last week in the opening game of the OVC schedule and earned 23 points against the Eagles (Dec. 4). That makes two-straight 20+ point performances against Morehead State.

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
The Racers will continue their home stand with a non-conference game against IUPUI. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 4. The home stand will continue over the rest of the week, with OVC games against Tennessee State (Jan. 6) and Austin Peay (Jan. 8).

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