Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Southeast Missouri State
Racers Move Into Tie For Fourth in the OVC With Victory Over Southeast Missouri State
2/19/2010 4:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State women's basketball team moved into a tie for fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with a 61-52 victory over Southeast Missouri State at the Regional Special Events Center. The win gives the Racers a 12-14 overall record and a 7-8 mark in the league and ties them with Eastern Kentucky for fourth.
MSU was led by senior Kayla Vance, who tallied 20 points and a career-best five rebounds. Fellow senior Mallory Luckett added six points and was one rebound shy of a double-double. Sophomore Kayla Lowe also added a double-digit point total for the Racers, with 11.
The first half was a defensive battle between the teams, with both combining for less than 50 points in the half. After both teams scored their first baskets within the first two minutes they both went cold and no one scored again until 15:18 was left on the clock when Vance hit a three to give the Racers a lead. The Redhawks (7-18, 4-11 OVC) did not get a basket through the hoop again until 14:55 remained in the half and then started a 5-0 run to tie the game at seven, with 13:26 left to play in the half.
MSU followed with a 9-0 run of its own over the next three minutes, before both teams again went long stretches without scoring before the half expired. SEMO was the first team to break the late scoreless streak at 4:11, which started a 6-0 run to tie the game again at 19. Vance again put the Racers back on top with a three, with 2:53 remaining. The Redhawks then went on a 4-0 run over the next 2:30 and it looked like they would take a lead into the locker room. However, Vance again came up big for MSU, sinking a basket with five seconds left on the clock to give the Racer a 24-23 advantage heading into the intermission.
After trading points in the opening minute of the second half, SEMO started a 9-0 run to take the lead (34-28). MSU countered with a 10-2 run to take a short lived lead with just over 10:30 minutes to play. For the next two minutes the teams traded the advantage before the Redhawks used a 4-0 run to take a three-point advantage. The Racers kept the deficit between one-to-three points for the next two minutes before Mallory Schwab started an 8-0 run, with 5:37 left on the clock, to give MSU the lead for good.
The run lasted until 3:45 and then neither team scored a basket for the next three minutes. The Racers went 7-of-10 from the free-throw line during the span to add to their lead. SEMO hit one last shot, with 28 second left, but MSU took the 61-52 win.
Free throws became a key to the victory for the Racers, as the team went 17-of-20 from the charity stripe, while holding the Redhawks to a just four attempts in the game. The four attempts, and makes, is the lowest number of free throws MSU has allowed an opponent this season, with the previous low being 12 attempts by Missouri State (Dec. 16, 2009).
The Racers will now prepare for their last home game of the 2009-10 regular season, Saturday, Feb. 20 against league-leading Eastern Illinois. Game time is set for 1:30 p.m. and MSU will honor this season's three seniors; Mallory Luckett, Jasmyne Thornton and Kayla Vance, prior to tip-off.
Notes: The regular-season sweep of SEMO is the first for MSU since the 1999-00 season and just the third in the all-time series...freshman Jessica Holder tallied four blocks and helped the Racers to eight team blocks...that ties for the No. 8 spot on the MSU all-time blocks in a game for the team list...this was the third game this season that the Racers did not attempt a free throw in the first half of action...the previous two were at Missouri (went 6-of-8 for the game) and at UT Martin (went 8-of-8 for the game).
Quotes
Head Coach Rob Cross
"This is an outstanding victory for us because it is the first time that we have swept SEMO in the regular season in ten years."
"I knew it was going to be a hard fought game. SEMO came in here and played as hard as they could."
"I am really proud of the way that Jessica Holder played defensively in the second half. She was really dialed into what we were trying to do defensively."
" Jasmyne Thornton didn't have much on the stat sheet, but she came in and gave us a huge lift and helped raise the energy level of the team late in the second half."
"Our three seniors work extremely hard and put in the time to do everything that they can possibly due to continue to improve. That is how they have survived at this level of competition and I can't say enough about their work ethic."
