Racers Win Third-Straight with 67-59 win at SIU Edwardsville

Saturday, January 21

Edwardsville, Ill.

1:00 PM

Murray State

SIU Edwardsville

Photo by: Tab Brockman

Racers Win Third-Straight with 67-59 win at SIU Edwardsville

1/21/2012 4:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score I Box Score (pdf)

The Murray State women's basketball team earned its third-straight victory with a 67-59 win over SIU Edwardsville at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Ill. The win moved the Racers to 7-11 overall and 4-3 in Ohio Valley Conference action.

The Racers were led by red-shirt sophomore Erica Burgess, who tallied a career-best 24 points and added six rebounds. Burgess was joined in double figures by juniors Mariah Robinson (13) and Tessa Elkins (10). Senior Kayla Lowe led the defense with eight rebounds and eight points.

The first half was a back-and forth battle that ended with eight tie scores and two lead changes before the teams headed to the locker room tied at 30. The teams traded two 4-0 runs in the opening five minutes and then 5-0 runs in the next three minutes. The teams then traded points over the next 11 minutes before the Racers trailed by three with just under two minutes to play. Robinson then hit a triple to tie the game at 28 and the teams traded lay-ups in the final 15 seconds for the tie at the half.

The back-and-forth battle continued into the second half before a 6-0 run by MSU gave the Racers a 41-35 advantage. The lead was 44-38, with just over 15 minutes left to play, when the Cougars went on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 48-44 lead. Senior Kayla Lowe then started a 6-0 run to give MSU a 50-48 advantage. The teams then traded shots before both went cold from the field, with MSU leading 52-50.

The scoreless streak lasted five minutes before SIUE broke the stalemate and tied the game at 52. The teams again traded baskets for the next five minutes, with a three by Robinson helping MSU hold on to a one to three-point advantage until the final two minutes. With the Racers up by three, the Cougars were forced to foul and MSU took advantage, making all eight of their shots from the free-throw line to earn the 67-59 win.

Shooting percentages and free throws were the key differences in the game, with MSU earning advantages in both. The Racers shot 41.8 percent from the field and 43.5 percent (23-of-55) from beyond the arc (10-of-23),while the Cougars hit 32.4 percent (22-of-68) of their shots and just 28.6 of the triples they attempted (6-of-21). While free throws were closer, MSU hit 11-of-13 for the game and SIUE was just 9-of-15 from the charity stripe.

The Racers will now have nine days before their next conference game (Jan. 30), but will not be idle during the span as they will be playing two non-conference games. MSU will first host Longwood, Monday, Jan. 23 at the CFSB Center (7 p.m.) and will then travel to face Southern Illinois (Jan. 26).

Notes: Senior Mallory Schwab tallied her 46^th career block, moving her onto the career blocks list at No. 10...junior Candace Nevels played in her first game since Dec. 10 at Evansville and went 1-for-1 from beyond the arc…this was the first victory over SIUE on the road and it was the first OVC game between the two teams.