Murray State University Athletics
Cross Adds Two to 2011-12 Roster
4/18/2011 1:58:36 PM | Women's Basketball
“The addition of these two young women will help create an outstanding class when combined with fall signee Beth Mahurin (6-3) and Chanyere Hosey (6-1, who redshirted this past season),” said head coach Rob Cross. “This class will have speed and quickness along with good size and athletic ability.”
Kirby comes to the Racers from Liberty Tech High School in Jackson, Tenn. The Tennessee All-State First-Team pick, is a 5-7 combo guard who averaged 19 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals per game as a senior for the Lady Crusaders. Kirby also helped her team to the Division I Class AA Tennessee State semifinals as a senior. For the past two seasons, Kirby has been named to the all-district and all-district tournament team. As a junior, she averaged 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals per game.
“Keiona played for coach Kevin Weeks at Liberty Tech (the same school as Racer men's basketball player Jewaun Long) and he has done an excellent job helping her develop into the player she has become,” Cross added. “'Key' is a tough minded guard who has excellent end-to-end speed with the ability to play a power game, attacking the rim and rebounding the basketball. She is also an excellent three-point shooter. The biggest thing that stands out to me about her is that she gets tougher with the game on the line. Time and again we watched her take games over down the stretch and will her team to victory.”
Williams was a four-year stand-out for Bolivar Central High School in Bolivar, Tenn. The 5-5 combo guard averaged 23 points, six rebound, three steals and three assist per game as a senior. More impressively, Williams held four-year career averages of 21.5 points, five rebounds, 3.5 assists and three steals per game. The two-time Jackson Sun First Team All-West Tennessee pick, finished her career with over 2,200 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists and 300 steals. Williams has earned all-district honors all four seasons, including two district MVP awards. She has also been named all-state by the Tennessee Sportswriters Association in her final two seasons.
“Kendra is a shooter with deep range that has the ability to break people down with the dribble and finish in the paint,” commented Cross. “She does not have great size, but has great quickness and when that is combined with her deep shooting range she can become a very good scorer and distributor as a Racer. She is an outstanding leaper and will mix it up with the bigs inside on the glass. Her toughness will be a great addition to our program. Coach Rudesill does a great job of teaching the game at Bolivar and has produced numerous major college prospects in his time on the bench coach both the men and women.”
Kirby and Williams join Mahurin, a 6-3 post player from Rockville High School in Rockville, Ind. Mahurin is a top scorer, rebounder and defender for the Rox. As a junior she averaged 17 points, 15 rebounds (third in the state), six blocks (first in the state) and a field goal percentage of 63. She is the top returning player in the state of Indiana in rebounds and blocks. Her 63.0 shooting percentage was third among Indiana players in 2009-10 and her 17 points per game rank her 13th among returners for Indiana.
“Beth, Keiona and Kendra are all great students and outstanding young women,” Cross added. “We are confident they will be great ambassadors for Murray State University.”
