Murray State University Athletics
Saturday, December 10
Evansville, Ind.
2:00 PM
Murray State
at
Evansville
Photo by: Tab Brockman
Racers Starting Six-Game Road Swing at Evansville
12/8/2011 1:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Murray State (3-5) at Evansville (2-6)
Saturday - 2 p.m.
Ford Center
Evansville, Ind.
Game Notes I Listen Live I Watch Live I Live Stats
After having a week off for finals, the Murray State women's basketball team will return to the court for the conclusion of their home-and-home series with Evansville, Saturday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. at the new Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. This is the second home-and-home series of the season for the Racers, who split their series with Saint Louis.
Scouting Evansville
The Purple Aces are 2-6 overall after their last game, a week ago, a loss to Marshall in Evansville, Ind. The game with MSU will be the fourth straight at home for UE after spending the first five games of the season on the road. The road swing included their opening game of the season at Murray State, with a 76-61 loss.
The Purple Aces have two key scores and then the rest of the points (6.9 to 1.0) are spread out among the rest of the team. Samantha Heck is the top producer, with 11.1 points per game, a .381 shooting percentage, a .348 three-point shooting percentage and 6.0 rebounds per outing. Briyana Blair is next on the list with 9.3 points per game. Blair leads the team with 8.4 rebounds per game, 29 assists, 11 blocks and 13 steals.
Evansville is being outscored 8.7 points per game, but has a 1.6 rebound advantage. The Purple Aces are also committing 20.3 turnovers per game to 16.4 by their opponents and only recording 6.8 steals to 12.5. UE is close to its opponents in overall shooting percentage, but has a clear disadvantage in three-point shooting (25.5 to 35.5 percent). The Purple Aces are attempting more triples per game, but making less.
Against the Purple Aces
The Racers earned a 76-61 win in the first game of the season against Evansville at the CFSB Center (Nov. 11).The game was the first of the season for both teams.
MSU was led by red-shirt sophomore Erica Burgess, who tallied a team-best 18 points and nine assists, while shooting .500 (7-of-14) from the floor. Junior Mariah Robinson added 13 points and freshman Ashleigh McBean added a team-high 10 rebounds.
The Purple Aces had two players in double figures. Samantha Heck tallied a team-high 18 points and six rebounds, while shooting 70.0 (7-of-10) percent from the floor and 67.7 (2-of-3) percent from beyond the arc. Briyana Blair added 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
The Racers shot .366 from the field (30-of-82) and .257 (9-of-35) from beyond the three-point line, with UE hitting 40 percent (20-of-50) of their shots and 38.9 percent of those from beyond the arc (7-of-18). The Purple Aces also earned a slight 44-47 rebounding advantage. A key for the Racers was the 31 turnovers they forced UE to commit, while only garnering 13 of their own.
The Series
The Racers own a 17-11 advantage in the all-time series after their win earlier this season. The series is currently tied seven-all when playing in Evansville, Ind., with this being the first game played in the newly opened Ford Center. Over the past four years, the teams have renewed their regional rivalry, with each winning two games on their home courts. Before 2008, the teams hadn't faced each other since 1999.
Making Move Up or On Top-10 Lists
Three members of the team are currently on or close to making their mark on three top-10 lists at MSU. Junior Mariah Robinson is currently ranked No. 7 on the three's made chart, with 113. She is just 11 from No. 6 (124-Ashley N. Hayes). Senior Kayla Lowe is making a move to join Robinson on the list, with her 90 career triples. The No. 10 spot is 94 (Melissa Shelton).
Fellow senior Mallory Schwab is also making an effort to get on a top-10 list, blocks. The Martinsville, Ind., native has 41 blocks to her name and the chart start at 46 (four players).
1,000 Point Club Membership
Junior Mariah Robinson is cruising along to a membership in the 1,000 Point Club at Murray State. The Beaver Dam, Ky., native is looking to become the 18th member of the club and would be the ninth Racer to do so during her junior campaign. Robinson currently has 767 points, just 233 away from the milestone and is averaging 12.9 points per game this season.
Robinson Reemerging
Junior Mariah Robinson broke a 32 game scoring streak against Mid-Continent and then failed to record a point at Ball State. When she got back on the scoreboard at Alabama A&M she made up for lost time, recording a season-best 25 points. Since getting the scoring touch back, the Beaver Dam, Ky., native has averaged 19.3 points per game, including two 20+ performances.
Three Point Season
The Racers have made 67 triples this season, 28.9 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. Of the 14 active players on the team, only three have not attempted a shot from beyond the arc and 8-of-11 have made at least one.
Going for No. 500/50
The Racers are currently 492-634-2 in their 47th season of basketball. With eight 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 two more wins head coach Rob Cross will also reach his 50th career win.
High Pressure Defense
The new high-pressure defense that the Racers are playing this season has forced three of their opponents into 30+ turnovers and three more into 20+ 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. Overall the Racers have forced 194 turnovers and have committed just 124.
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.
Up Next
MSU will continue their six-game road trip at the Magnolia Classic at Ole Miss, with games against Mississippi and Cleveland State. The last three games will be the first three games of the Ohio Valley Conference season at Southeast Missouri (Dec. 31), Eastern Illinois (Jan. 2) and Austin Peay (Jan. 7).
Saturday - 2 p.m.
Ford Center
Evansville, Ind.
Game Notes I Listen Live I Watch Live I Live Stats
After having a week off for finals, the Murray State women's basketball team will return to the court for the conclusion of their home-and-home series with Evansville, Saturday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. at the new Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. This is the second home-and-home series of the season for the Racers, who split their series with Saint Louis.
Scouting Evansville
The Purple Aces are 2-6 overall after their last game, a week ago, a loss to Marshall in Evansville, Ind. The game with MSU will be the fourth straight at home for UE after spending the first five games of the season on the road. The road swing included their opening game of the season at Murray State, with a 76-61 loss.
The Purple Aces have two key scores and then the rest of the points (6.9 to 1.0) are spread out among the rest of the team. Samantha Heck is the top producer, with 11.1 points per game, a .381 shooting percentage, a .348 three-point shooting percentage and 6.0 rebounds per outing. Briyana Blair is next on the list with 9.3 points per game. Blair leads the team with 8.4 rebounds per game, 29 assists, 11 blocks and 13 steals.
Evansville is being outscored 8.7 points per game, but has a 1.6 rebound advantage. The Purple Aces are also committing 20.3 turnovers per game to 16.4 by their opponents and only recording 6.8 steals to 12.5. UE is close to its opponents in overall shooting percentage, but has a clear disadvantage in three-point shooting (25.5 to 35.5 percent). The Purple Aces are attempting more triples per game, but making less.
Against the Purple Aces
The Racers earned a 76-61 win in the first game of the season against Evansville at the CFSB Center (Nov. 11).The game was the first of the season for both teams.
MSU was led by red-shirt sophomore Erica Burgess, who tallied a team-best 18 points and nine assists, while shooting .500 (7-of-14) from the floor. Junior Mariah Robinson added 13 points and freshman Ashleigh McBean added a team-high 10 rebounds.
The Purple Aces had two players in double figures. Samantha Heck tallied a team-high 18 points and six rebounds, while shooting 70.0 (7-of-10) percent from the floor and 67.7 (2-of-3) percent from beyond the arc. Briyana Blair added 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
The Racers shot .366 from the field (30-of-82) and .257 (9-of-35) from beyond the three-point line, with UE hitting 40 percent (20-of-50) of their shots and 38.9 percent of those from beyond the arc (7-of-18). The Purple Aces also earned a slight 44-47 rebounding advantage. A key for the Racers was the 31 turnovers they forced UE to commit, while only garnering 13 of their own.
The Series
The Racers own a 17-11 advantage in the all-time series after their win earlier this season. The series is currently tied seven-all when playing in Evansville, Ind., with this being the first game played in the newly opened Ford Center. Over the past four years, the teams have renewed their regional rivalry, with each winning two games on their home courts. Before 2008, the teams hadn't faced each other since 1999.
Making Move Up or On Top-10 Lists
Three members of the team are currently on or close to making their mark on three top-10 lists at MSU. Junior Mariah Robinson is currently ranked No. 7 on the three's made chart, with 113. She is just 11 from No. 6 (124-Ashley N. Hayes). Senior Kayla Lowe is making a move to join Robinson on the list, with her 90 career triples. The No. 10 spot is 94 (Melissa Shelton).
Fellow senior Mallory Schwab is also making an effort to get on a top-10 list, blocks. The Martinsville, Ind., native has 41 blocks to her name and the chart start at 46 (four players).
1,000 Point Club Membership
Junior Mariah Robinson is cruising along to a membership in the 1,000 Point Club at Murray State. The Beaver Dam, Ky., native is looking to become the 18th member of the club and would be the ninth Racer to do so during her junior campaign. Robinson currently has 767 points, just 233 away from the milestone and is averaging 12.9 points per game this season.
Robinson Reemerging
Junior Mariah Robinson broke a 32 game scoring streak against Mid-Continent and then failed to record a point at Ball State. When she got back on the scoreboard at Alabama A&M she made up for lost time, recording a season-best 25 points. Since getting the scoring touch back, the Beaver Dam, Ky., native has averaged 19.3 points per game, including two 20+ performances.
Three Point Season
The Racers have made 67 triples this season, 28.9 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. Of the 14 active players on the team, only three have not attempted a shot from beyond the arc and 8-of-11 have made at least one.
Going for No. 500/50
The Racers are currently 492-634-2 in their 47th season of basketball. With eight 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 two more wins head coach Rob Cross will also reach his 50th career win.
High Pressure Defense
The new high-pressure defense that the Racers are playing this season has forced three of their opponents into 30+ turnovers and three more into 20+ 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. Overall the Racers have forced 194 turnovers and have committed just 124.
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.
Up Next
MSU will continue their six-game road trip at the Magnolia Classic at Ole Miss, with games against Mississippi and Cleveland State. The last three games will be the first three games of the Ohio Valley Conference season at Southeast Missouri (Dec. 31), Eastern Illinois (Jan. 2) and Austin Peay (Jan. 7).
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