Late Racers Rally Falls Short at Tennessee State

Thursday, February 3

Nashville, Tenn.

5:15 p.m.

Murray State

Tennessee State

Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey recorded her seventh double-double of the season (17 pts., 12 reb.) against Tennessee State.

Photo by: TSU Athletics

2/3/2011 9:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Despite forcing a tie in the final minute of the game, the Murray State women's basketball team was unable to come up with a victory against Tennessee State. The Racers (6-16, 2-9 OVC) dropped a 73-70 decision to the Lady Tigers at the Gentry Center in Nashville, Tenn.

Box Score

MSU was led by red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey, who tallied her seventh double-double of the season. The Marion, Ark., native garnered 17 points and 12 rebounds, as one of four players with a double-digit point total. Juniors Rachael Isom (14) and Kayla Lowe (13) and sophomore Mariah Robinson (10) were the other three players in double figures.

The first half saw the momentum switch back-and-forth throughout the stanza. The teams traded points in the first three minutes before TSU started a 7-0 run that gave them the lead for a large portion of the half. The Racers kept pushing with a few small runs and took advantage of trips to the charity stripe to not allow the lead to get any larger than seven points. With 6:30 remaining, MSU started a 12-0 run that gave them control of the scoreboard for the rest of the stanza. The Lady Tigers did not give up and went on a 10-4 run in the final three minutes of the half to cut, what was as large as a nine-point advantage, to a three-point MSU lead (31-28) heading into the locker room.

The extra momentum that TSU had gained at the end of the first half carried into the second, as the Lady Tigers went on a 10-1 run before the Racers could garner a field goal. The run gave TSU an advantage that they never relinquished. MSU was able to tie the game with 37 seconds left to play on a lay-up from Robinson. However TSU hit another lay-up and made two free throws in the final seconds, while the Racers went one-of-two from the free-throw line.

Both teams combined for a total of 63 free-throw attempts, with the Racers going 27-of-32 and the Lady Tigers making 22-of-31 attempts. TSU earned a slight advantage in the overall shooting percentage column (40.4 to 33.3) and in rebounds (41 to 38).

The Racers will remain on the road for a match-up with Austin Peay, Saturday, Feb. 5 at the Dunn Center (5:15 p.m.) in Clarksville, Tenn.