Racers Continue Road Trip at Alabama A&M

Murray State at Alabama A&M
Tuesday - 6 p.m.
T. M. Elmore Gym
Huntsville, Ala.

Game Notes I Listen Live

The Murray State women's basketball team will continue its four-game road swing with a stop on Huntsville, Ala., to face Alabama A&M at 6 p.m. in the T. M. Elmore Gym.

Scouting Alabama A&M
The Bulldogs are 1-2 after picking up their first win of the season (72-54) over Lipscomb at T. M. Elmore Gym (Nov. 19).

AAMU has two players averaging double-digits in points, with Whiquitta Tobar netting 22.3 and Shundray Davis garnering 11.3. Tobar is shooting 45.7 (21-of-46) percent from the field, 33.3 (3-of-9) percent from beyond the arc and 84.6 (22-of-26) percent from the charity stripe, while adding 5.7 rebounds per game and eight steals. Davis is adding 6.7 rebounds per game. Nadra Robertson contributes 7.7 points and a team-best eight rebounds per outing, while shooting 45.5 (10-of-22) percent from the field. The rest of the team is averaging 4-1 points and 3-1 rebounds per game.

The Bulldogs are trailing their opponents on the season box score in most categories. They are close to even in rebounds, but are shooting 36.4 (64-of-176) percent from the field to a 41.1 (78-of-190) percent by their opponents. AAMU is recording only 2.3 triples per game, while allowing 5.7 per outing. Blocks also seem to be a big part of their game and their opponents, with the Bulldogs recording 5.3 per game to 5.7 by their opponents.

The first half of play seems to better for AAMU, as they are recording just four fewer points (93-97) than its opponents. In the second half the difference is 16 (87-103).

The Series
This will be the fifth meeting in the all-time series and the third in Huntsville, Ala. The Racers have been the victors in all four of the previous meetings. The last meetings was Nov. 13, 2009 at T. M. Elmore Gym, when MSU earned a 72-61 win.

Elkins Elevating Performance
Over the last week, junior Tessa Elkins has turned up her performance. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native recorded a career-best 14 points against Ball State, going 3-of-3 from beyond the arc and 5-of-7 from the field. In the Racers' home game against Mid-Continent she added a career-high six steals.

Three Point Season
The Racers have made 39 triples in the first four games of the season, 16.8 percent of the school record for the most three's in a season (232). MSU has a season-high of 15 made in a single game (vs. Mid-Con) and has recorded the same or more triples than its opponents in every game this season.

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.

Going for No. 500/50
The Racers are currently 491-631-2 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 new high-pressure defense that the Racers are playing this season has forced three of their four opponents into 30+ turnovers. This is the first time since at least 1996-97, when individual game stats are available, that the team has forced more than one opponent into 30+ turnovers. The most forced during that span was 39 (Nov. 18, 2009) by Mid-Continent. So far this season MSU has forced Mid-Con into 33, Ball State into 32 and Evansville into 31.

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.

Up Next
The road swing will roll on with stops in Saint Louis (Nov. 26) and No. 9 Louisville (Nov. 29) during the span before returning to the CFSB Center (Dec. 3).

Murray State University Athletics

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