Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Tennessee State
Late Free Throws Help Racers Get Past Tennessee State
2/5/2010 2:15:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State women's basketball team earned its fourth-straight home victory, with a 77-69 win over Tennessee State at the Regional Special Events Center. The win gave the Racers their 10th win of the season and improved their record to 10-12 overall and 5-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Senior Kayla Vance led a trio of players with double-digit scoring for MSU. The West Paducah, Ky., native tallied 20 points, while fellow senior Mallory Luckett added 15 and freshman Tessa Elkins tallied a career-high 10. Elkins also added a career-best seven rebounds, with Luckett adding nine boards and eight assists.
The opening half of action was a back-and-forth battle; with no team leading by more than three points until the Lady Tigers took a 24-20 lead with 8:54 remaining in the first half. The Racers quickly tied the game with a 4-0 run of their own and the battle resumed through the opening 20 minutes. The score looked like it was going to be tied at 34 heading into the locker room, but a last second triple by Kayla Lowe gave the Racers a 37-34 advantage.
TSU came out of the intermission and quickly tied the game again twice in the opening minute of action. After a tie at 39 (19:12), MSU went on a 4-0 run over the next minute to take the lead for good. The Racers never trailed the rest of the game and despite a few small runs by the Lady Tigers, never let TSU get closer than one point the rest of the half.
MSU was up by nine, with just under four minutes to play, when the Lady Tigers made their final push of the game. TSU went on a 6-0 run over the next two minutes to cut the lead to three (68-65). The Racers then increased the lead back to as many as 10 on nine free throws to end the game on a 9-4 run.
Free throws were a key to the game, as MSU went 17-of-20 from the charity stripe and the Lady Tigers went just 18-of-31.
The Racers will next face Austin Peay, Saturday, Feb. 6 as part of the Hall of Fame weekend. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. in the Regional Special Events Center.
Notes: There was an 11 minutes delay with 52.2 second left in the first half due to an injured player...freshman Tessa Elkins had a career high in the rebounding column at the end of the first half (7)...the Racers were out rebounded by TSU, 51-47...sophomore Kayla Lowe Mallory Luckett garnered a career-high three blocks and four steals. recorded her first start since Nov. 15, 2009 against Memphis...
Quotes
Head Coach Rob Cross
"It was an exciting win tonight. The team played with a lot of energy, but we made a few mental errors. The difference is we are starting to recognize those mental errors immediately."
" Tessa Elkins has a competitive fire and is just starting to really learn to play the game at this level."
" Kayla Vance is a smart player and made an adjustment tonight to shoot the pull-up jump shot instead of the three. She is a good solid all-around player."
