Racers Headed For Battle with Ball State

Murray State at Ball State
Saturday - Noon (CST)
Worthen Arena
Muncie, Ind.

Game Notes I Listen Live I Live Stats

The Murray State women's basketball team will hit the road for the first of four-straight games away from the CFSB Center. The first stop on the road trip is in Muncie, Ind., Saturday, Nov. 19 for a noon (CST) tip-off with Ball State.

Scouting Ball State
The Cardinals are 0-3 on the season, after losing to Ohio Valley Conference member SIU Edwardsville Nov. 16 in Edwardsville, Ill.

BSU has two players with double-digit point totals on the year in Jazmin Hitchens (14.0 ppg) and Brittany Carter (10.3 ppg). Hitches is one of the strongest shooters on the team, with a .462 (6-of-13) mark from the floor and a .500 (2-of-4) pace from beyond the arc. Carter adds 3.0 rebounds per game, four assists, two steals and six blocks. The Cardinals' top rebounder is Katie Murphy, with 5.3 per game, but the rest of the team is not far behind as the rebounds are evenly spread out across the box score.

BSU is shooting 34.3 percent from the field and just 23.2 percent from three-point range this season. They are allowing their opponents to hit at a .446 pace overall and a .300 mark from beyond the arc. The Cardinals have a +3.0 rebounding margin on the season, but are also committing 6.7 more turnovers per game.

The second half is stronger for BSU, with the team recording 23 more points in the second stanza than the first and cutting the difference between their opponents from -31 to -13.

The Series
The all-time series is currently tied at 1-1, with both teams earning a win on their opponents home court. BSU took the victory in the last meeting, Nov. 19, 2005 (72-90). In the first game of the series, the Racers earned an 87-76 win in Muncie, Ind., Nov. 28, 2004. The Cardinals are one of six teams from the Mid-American Conference that MSU has faced, with the Racers holding an 11-6 advantage against those teams.

Record Book Night
MSU had an outstanding night Nov. 17 against Mid-Continent making new entries in several top-10 team single game lists. The Racers 103 points tied for the eighth most in a single game and the most since 2008. The 15 three's made and 39 attempted by MSU were the second-most in school history. The Racers also recorded 23 steals, the third-most in school history.

Karst Turning It Up
Sophomore Allison Karst had a strong individual showing for the Racers. The Louisville, Ky., native tallied a career-best 17 points and three assists. Karst went 6-of-7 from the floor, including a 5-of-6 mark from three-point range.

Going for No. 500/50
The Racers are currently 491-630-2 in their 47th season of basketball. With nine more wins the team will record its 500 victory. The 500th win for MSU would make the Racers the sixth team in the conference to record over 500 wins. MSU would join Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Southeast Missouri, SIU Edwardsville and Tennessee Tech in the club. With three more wins head coach Rob Cross will also reach his 50th career win.

Exciting Entrance for Erica
MSU red-shirt sophomore Erica Burgess played in her first two games for the Racers, after sitting out the 2010-11 season due to NCAA transfer rules, and made an immediate impact for the team and in the conference, as she was named the adidas Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week for Nov. 15.

Burgess averaged 19 points, five rebounds, 7.5 assists and four steals, while shooting 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the field. The Memphis, Tenn., native tallied a career-best 20 points versus Big Ten opponent Indiana and had 18 against Evansville.

High Pressure Defense
The Racers had a high-pressure defense in place in the season opener against the Purple Aces. MSU forced Evansville into 31 turnovers, stealing away 20. The Racers had better ball control, committing just 13 turnovers and allowing seven steals. The fast pace of the game also led to MSU attempting 82 shots, 35 from beyond the arc, with UE attempting 50 (18-three's).

Preseason Honors
Junior Mariah Robinson and sophomore Jessica Winfrey both earned double preseason honors for the Racers, being named to the Preseason All-OVC and College Sports Madness Preseason teams.

Robinson was an All-OVC Second Team pick in 2010-11 after leading the Racers with 17.9 points per game in conference action. The Beaver Dam, Ky., native also added 5.9 rebounds per game, a team-best 74 assists and 46 steals. The 5-9 guard shot .376 from the field, .338 from beyond the arc and .828 from the charity stripe.

Winfrey was a stable force across the court for MSU in 2010-11, earning OVC All-Newcomer honors. The Marion, Ark., native averaged 10.6 points and a team-best 9.7 boards per game. The 5-10 forward added a .432 shooting percentage, 23 assists, 26 steals and 11 blocks.

Jessica's Missing for the Season
Both of the Racers players named Jessica, Jessica Winfrey and Jessica Holder, will miss the 2011-12 campaign due to injury. Winfrey was a key starter for the Racers last year, while Holder was sidelined for most of the 2010-11 campaign due to injury as well.

Racers Starting the Season
MSU is now 21-19 all-time in home openers after their 76-61 win over Evansville at the CFSB Center (Nov. 11). It was the fifth match-up between the Racers and Evansville to open the home season, with UE holding a 3-2 advantage in those games. The win also improved MSU season opener record to 18-27.

National Attendance
Murray State women's basketball was ranked No. 27 in the NCAA DI last season for home attendance. The Racers played 14 games at the CFSB Center and totaled 52,617 in attendance for an average of 3,758 fans per game. MSU was the only team in the OVC to break the top-50, with the OVC ranking 10th among DI conferences with an average of 1,268 fans per home game. The conference had a total attendance of 171,162, which was a conference record.

Quick Sets
The Racers have made 34 triples in the first three games of the season, 14.6 percent of the school record for the most three's in a season (232)...freshman Beth Mahurin made her first appearance for the Racers against Mid-Con...now all 14 members of the team that can play this season have seen action...every player recorded a point or rebound against the Cougars, with only one of the 14 who played not recording a point or a rebound.

Up Next
MSU will continue the current road trip against Alabama A&M (Nov. 22) at 6 p.m. The road swing will roll on with stops in Saint Louis (Nov. 26) and No. 10 Louisville (Nov. 29) during the span before returning to the CFSB Center for the only home game in December against Saint Louis (Dec. 3).

Murray State University Athletics

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