Battle With League-Leading Tennessee Tech Set for Thursday

Thursday, February 10

CFSB Center

5:15 p.m.

Murray State

Tennessee Tech

Sophomore Tessa Elkins was one of three players in double figures for the Racers in the last meeting with Tennessee Tech.

Photo by: Fred Mullane

Battle With League-Leading Tennessee Tech Set for Thursday

2/8/2011 3:02:54 PM | Women's Basketball

Game 24
Murray State (6-17, 2-10 OVC) vs. Tennessee Tech (18-4, 12-1 OVC)
Location: Murray, Ky.
Arena: CFSB Center
Time: 5:15 p.m.

The Game
The Murray State women's basketball team will play host to league-leading Tennessee Tech, Thursday, Feb. 10 at 5:15 p.m. in the CFSB Center. The Racers have just six games left in the regular season, with four of those to be contested in Murray, Ky.

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Scouting Tennessee Tech
The Golden Eagles are 18-4 overall and are leading the Ohio Valley Conference with a 12-1 record, two games ahead of Morehead State in second place. TTU has been victorious in its last nine games dating back to Jan. 8.

While the Golden Eagles spread out their offensive attack (eight players averaging 15-6 points per game), one player stands out above the rest. Tacarra Hayes is leading the team with 15.5 points and 7.6 board per game. Hayes has taken almost 130 more shots than anyone else on the team (273) and is making those shots at a .407 pace. She has also taken the most free throw attempts (by more than 100), making 120-of-155 shots. Hayes is also the teams assists (101) and steals (40) leader.

TTU is a overall strong shooting team, averaging 40.6 percent from the field. Of the 10 team members that have taken more than 20 shots this season no one is shooting lower than 32.4 percent from the field. The Golden Eagles shooting percentage drops from beyond the arc to 30.6 percent, with Rachel Glidden leading the team with 133 attempts and Molly Heady leading in shooting percentage, at .480 (12-of-25).

TTU is ranked 34th in the nation in rebounding margin, at +6.0 (41.5/35.5), and is 84th in scoring margin, at +6.2 (68.1/62.0). The Golden Eagles also rank in the top-100 in scoring offense (87th). Hayes is raked in the top-125 in two categories among the nations players. She is 66th in assists per game (4.6) and 121st in points per game (15.5).

Against the Golden Eagles
MSU dropped a 77-61 decision to Tennessee Tech in the first meeting of the year in Clarksville, Tenn. The Racers were led by a trio of players in double digits. Sophomore Mariah Robinson tallied 19 points and three rebounds for MSU, while sophomore Tessa Elkins garnered a career-best 13 points and added four rebounds. Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey contributed 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds.

Despite shooting 47.4 percent from the floor, to the Golden Eagles 43.1, the Racers lost the battle at the free-throw line, making just 3-of-11 shots while TTU made all 15 of their attempts. Turnovers and rebounds were also a key factor in the outcome, with MSU trailing in both categories. The Racers committed 20 turnovers and the Golden Eagles tallied 25 points off those turnovers. TTU also earned a 42-30 advantage on the board, with a 17-10 lead in offensive rebounds.

TTU was led by Molly Heady, who tallied a double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds). Tacarra Hayes added 15 points and Kellie Cook added 13.

The Series
The series with the Golden Eagles is one of the most lopsided in the OVC for the Racers. TTU owns a 56-13 advantage in the series, including a 22-10 mark when playing in Murray, Ky. However, MSU has been the winner of the last five meetings on their home court, with the last loss coming Feb. 10, 2005. The Golden Eagles have won the last two games, but the Racers took the previous six.

Winfrey Winning Honors
Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey earned her first OVC honor, after being named the adidas OVC Freshman of the Week for Feb. 7. This is the second player of the week honor for an MSU player this season.

Winfrey tallied her team-leading seventh double-double of the year at Tennessee State with a career-best 17 points and 12 rebounds. She fell one board shy of a double-double at Austin Peay with 16 points and nine rebounds. She shot 48.0 percent from the floor and went 9-of-11 at the free throw line for the week.

Double Double-Double Nights
For the second time this season two members of the team garnered double-doubles on the same night. Sophomore Mariah Robinson earned her second of the season, with 25 points and a career-best 14 rebounds against UT Martin. Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey added her sixth of the year, with 11 points and 13 rebounds. This marked the first time since the 2000-01 campaign that MSU had two players with double-doubles in the same game twice in a season.

In the win over Eastern Illinois (Jan. 20), the Racers had two players earn double-doubles for the first time since Dec. 18, 2008 when Ashley N. Hayes (14 pts., 12 reb.) and Amber Guffey (20 pts., 11 reb.) each had one. Robinson earned her first career double-double, with 29 points and 11 rebounds, while Winfrey earned her fourth of the season (11 pts., 10 reb.).

Consecutive Double-Doubles
Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey became the first player since Ashley N. Hayes to record consecutive double-doubles when she earned her fifth of the season and second-straight against Southeast Missouri (14 pts., 10 reb.). Hayes was the last to record consecutive double-doubles when she tallied four from Feb. 12, 2009 to Feb. 21, 2009. Stephanie Minor leads that list, having recorded seven straight twice in her career.

Robinson Raining Three's
Sophomore Mariah Robinson had the game of her career Jan. 13 in Jacksonville, Ala. The Beaver Dam, Ky., native recorded the second-most points in school history (44) and tallied a school-record nine three pointers. The previous record was set by Megan Fuqua and her current coach Ashley B. Hayes (8). Robinson also added a career-best nine free throws and 13 field goals. She was not just a scoring threat for MSU in the game, as she added eight rebounds and three assists.

Elkins Elevating Performance
After playing sparingly in the first few games of the season, sophomore Tessa Elkins has become a key reserve in the lineup and earned her first starting role against the Gamecocks. Elkins has played double-digit minutes since the Dec. 22 game at UT Martin and has recorded 10-or-more points in five of those outings. She has recorded season-bests in all categories, including a career-high 13 points against TTU, four steals and seven free throws against APSU and three blocks versus UTM.

Racking Up the Rebounds
Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey was ratcheting up her rebounding numbers from Dec. 18-Jan. 4. Winfrey garnered at least 10 rebounds during the four games, 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.

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 9.1 boards per game, is third in scoring (10.5 ppg) and has tallied six double-doubles. 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 20 steals and eight 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
The next outing for MSU will be against Jacksonville State, Saturday, Feb. 12 at 5:15 p.m. in the CFSB Center. The game is the annual Pink Zone night to help raise awareness for breast cancer. Murray-Calloway County Hospital will have an information booth in the concourse to hand out information on breast cancer prevention and about the services available in the area for cancer patients. Those in attendance are encouraged to wear pink in support of the cause.