Racers Open Home OVC Action Against Tennessee State

Game 14
Murray State (4-9, 0-3 OVC) vs. Tennessee State (4-9, 1-3 OVC)
Location: Murray, Ky.
Arena: CFSB Center
Time: 5:15 p.m.

The Game
The Murray State women's basketball team will host its first Ohio Valley Conference opponent at the renamed CFSB Center, Thursday, Jan. 6 when Tennessee State comes to town for a 5:15 p.m. tip-off.

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Scouting Tennessee State
The Lady Tigers come to town with a 4-9 record and a 1-3 mark in the league. Their last game was a week ago at Georgia Tech, which resulted in a loss. TSU's last conference game gave them their first OVC win of the season against Eastern Kentucky (Dec. 21).

The Lady Tigers have one go-to shooter this season - Meredith Stafford. Stafford is not only the only player on the team with a double-digit point average (11.0), but she has also taken almost double the shots of anyone else on the team. She accounts for 22 percent of the teams shots from the field and beyond the arc, with 160 overall attempts (next highest is 91) and 49 threes. Stafford is also the teams leader in the steals column (24).

Stafford may take the most shots, but Destiney Gaston and Tayla Foster have the best shooting percentages on the team. Gaston makes 46.8 percent of her shots (22-of-47) and Foster hits .444 of hers (36-of-81). Foster is the second leading scorer on the team, with 7.8 points per game, and Gaston is the leading blocker (14).

Simone Hopes and Alana Morris are the team's leading rebounders, but TSU spreads out its rebounding efforts across the team. Hopes averages 5.6 boards, while Morris adds 5.1. Nine of the other 12 members of the team all average over one rebound per game, with five of those garnering over two per outing.

The Lady Tigers have disadvantages, compared to their opponents, in all statistical categories except for free-throw percentage. TSU is hitting 72.9 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe to 68 percent by its opponents. However, the Lady Tigers have attempted 70 fewer shots from the free-throw line this season and are averaging three less made per game.

Against the Lady Tigers
Last season the teams battled to victories on their home courts in the year series. Junior Kayla Lowe leads the returners with nine points and five rebounds per game against TSU (played in one game), while fellow junior Kristen Kluempers had a strong series, tallying 8.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and shooting .444. Sophomore Tessa Elkins also had a standout performance against the Lady Eagles, with averages of eight points and 6.5 rebounds, a shooting percentage of .438 and two assists, blocks and steals.

The series was split and the statistics for both teams were pretty even across the score sheet. MSU shot .387 from the field to TSU's .385. However, the Lady Tigers shot .400 from beyond the arc to the Racers .289 and earned a 49.0 to 43.5 advantage on the boards. MSU took an advantage on blocks, with 5.5 per game to TSU's 2.0.

Kesi Hess is the top returners for the Lady Tigers. Hess netted 15 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and shot .556 from the field, .727 from beyond the arc and 1.000 from the charity stripe. Jasmin Schuler and Meredith Stafford also had strong performances in the series. Schuler averaged 8.5 points and Stafford added seven points per game.

The Series
The Racers hold a 30-18 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to the 1985-86 campaign. MSU is 17-7 when playing in Murray. The Racers are 8-2 in the last 10 meetings and 4-1 in both the last five overall and the last five at home. The last loss in Murray to TSU was Jan. 5, 2008 when the teams went to overtime.

Racking Up the Rebounds
Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey has been ratcheting up her rebounding numbers since the Racers ended their long road swing. In the last four games, Winfrey has garnered at least 10 rebounds, making her the first player since Ashley N. Hayes had the same streak in the 2008-09 season. She is also just the fourth MSU player to accomplish the feat since the 1996-97 campaign. Danelle Watts had a series of four games with 10+ boards in the 1998-99 season and Stephanie Minor went six and seven games in-a-row during the 1996-97 campaign.

Putting It All Together
The Racers had a season-best game against the Jaguars, with the largest win of the season. The 29-point win was not the only season-best for MSU. The Racers shot 50.9 percent overall and 47.4 percent from three-point range. The percentage from the field was a season-best, while the mark from beyond the arc was the second-best this year. MSU also out-rebounded IUPUI by 15, the largest margin in 2010-11, and recorded a season-high nine triples.

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 league 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 six of the last seven games.

Career Night Against the Cougars
Several players saw career highs increased in the Racers game against SIU Edwardsville. Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey started the trend by recording 17 rebounds, 10 in the first half. The 17 boards are the most by a Racers player since Nov. 28, 2009 when Mallory Luckett garnered 15 rebounds against Morgan State.

MSU also saw four players record double-digit point totals for the first time in 2010-11 and two of those were career bests. Freshman Mary Jehlik garnered her first double-digit total, with 13 and sophomore Tessa Elkins continued to added to her career number with 12.

Mary Moving In
Freshman Mary Jehlik has earned a starting role in the last five games. The Mount Sterling, Ky., native has tallied career bests in points, rebounding, assists, free throws and shooting percentage since her advancement on the bench. She recorded a career-high eight rebounds against IUPUI, and has increased her scoring best to 14. She also tallied career highs of four assists and free throws against the Jaguars.

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 89.0 boards per game, and third in scoring (9.5 ppg). She has tallied three double-doubles, including her latest versus IUPUI. 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 14 steals and five blocks.

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).

Up Next
MSU will conclude its longest home stand of the 2010-11 campaign with a game against Austin Peay, Saturday, Jan. 8. The game is scheduled to start at approximately 1:15 p.m. or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the men's game against the Govs, which is being aired on ESPNU.

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