Racers Headed to Morehead State for Key OVC Game

Murray State (8-13, 4-4 OVC) at Morehead State (7-13, 4-4 OVC)
Wednesday - 5 p.m.
Johnson Arena
Morhead, Ky.

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The Game
The Murray State women's basketball team will look to get back on the winning track, Wednesday, Feb. 1 when they travel to face Morehead State at 5 p.m. (CST) at Johnson Arena in Morehead, Ky.

Scouting Morehead State
The Eagles are 7-13 overall and tied with the Racers at 4-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference standings heading into Wednesday's game. Morehead has lost its last three games, including two-straight at Johnson Arena.

Morehead State has three keys players to focus on in Ashar Harris, Linda Dixon and Courtney Lumpkin. Harris is averaging a double-double on the season, with 11.9 points and 12.9 rebounds per game. She is also shooting at a .429 pace. Dixon leads the team in points, with 14.9 per outing and is also recording 5.3 rebounds per game. Dixon adds a .323 overall shooting percentage and a .296 mark from beyond the arc. She is also the team's leader in blocks (31) and steals (44). Lumpkin adds 14.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, while shooting .296 from the field .246 from three and has 60 assists.

The Eagles have clear disadvantages in four statistical columns; points, rebounds, overall shooting and three-point shooting. Morehead is averaging 7.7 fewer points and 5.1 fewer rebounds than its opponents. The Eagles are also shooting .330 on the season and allowing their opponents to connect at a .456 rate. The difference is .263 to .329 when shots are taken beyond the arc.

The Series
Morehead State currently owns a 41-35 advantage in the all-time series after claiming wins in the last five games. Both teams have clear advantages when playing on their home courts, with the series in Morehead, Ky., standing at 24-13 in favor of the Eagles. The last time the Racers went home with a win at Morehead was Feb. 9, 2008 (W, 56-52). All but two of the last 10 games have been within 10 points.

Watson Doubling Down
Junior Kyra Watson has been making more of a mark on the season box score for the Racers recently. In MSU's 86-77 win over Longwood, the Aurora, Ill., native made a big mark by recording her first career, and just the team's second double-double of the season. Watson tallied career highs of 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Dynamic Duo
Red-shirt sophomore Erica Burgess and junior Mariah Robinson both had outstanding games for the Racers against Longwood. The duo combined to be the first pair to record 20+ points in a game since Kayla Lowe (28) and Kayla Vance (24) did so against Morehead state (3/2/10). Burgess also made the Last Time It Happened List by recording 31 points and became the first to tally 30+ points in a game since Robinson recorded 44 at Jacksonville State (1/23/12). Robinson added 21 points against the Lancers for the duo mark.

Taking Charge of Monday Night
After spending most of the first half of the season on the road the Racers are finally returning home and Monday nights are a big part of the action. Each Monday night for six weeks (Jan. 9-Feb. 13) MSU's women's basketball team will be hosting a game at the CFSB Center.

When the OVC schedule changed to have Saturday-Monday games for the women's teams in the conference the league implemented “Taking Charge of Monday Night” where each team is featured on OVCSports.com and the game they are playing will be featured free on OVCSports.TV. The Feb. 16 (Thursday) game against UTM is the Racers featured night.

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 975 points, just 25 away from the milestone and is averaging 14.8 points per game this season. She has played in 78 career games and could be one of the fastest to reach the milestone in MSU history.

Athlete (Year Reached 1,000 Pts.) - Games Taken
Shelia Smith (1986-87) - 57 games
Stephanie Minor (1996-97) - 61 games
Laura Lynn (1979-80) - 66 games
Michelle Wenning (1989-90) - 69 games
Jennifer Parker (1992-93) - 74 games
Amber Guffey (2007-08) - 77 games
Ashley N Hayes (2007-08) - 77 games
Jackie Mounts (1977-78) - 80 games

Making Move Up or On Top-10 Lists
Three members of the team are currently on three top-10 lists at MSU. Junior Mariah Robinson is currently ranked No. 2 on the three's made chart, with 155. She is 55 from No. 1 (210-Amber Guffey). Senior Kayla Lowe also joined Robinson on the list, with her 117 career triples, for the No. 8 spot. She is seven from No. 7 (124-Ashley N. Hayes).

Fellow senior Mallory Schwab also earned her way onto the blocks top-10 list. The Martinsville, Ind., native has 49 blocks and is No. 8. She needs foru more to move up to No. 7 (53-Shaleea Petty).

Three Point Season
The Racers have made 159 triples this season, 68.5 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 12 active players on the team, only one has not attempted a shot from beyond the arc and 7-of-11 have made at least one.

Six-Time OVC Player of the Week
For the sixth time this season, red-shirt sophomore Erica Burgess was named the adidas Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week, for Jan. 17.

The Memphis, Tenn., native recorded 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in the Racers victories over Tennessee Tech (76-72) and Jacksonville State (73-57) last week. The guard scored 17 points and brought down a career-best nine rebounds versus the Gamecocks. She also had 18 points against the Golden Eagles. She went 12-for-14 at the free throw line for the week.

Nifty-Fifty
Head Coach Rob Cross reached his first coaching win milestone with the Racers, 76-72, win over Tennessee Tech at the CFSB Center, Jan. 14, 2012. The win gave the fourth-year head coach his 50th career win in just his 108th game coached.

Shaking Up the Line-Up
The Racers have now used nine different starting line-ups this season, the second most for a Division I team this season. MSU has also started nine of their 12 players on the team, with only Erica Burgess earning a starting role in all 15 games this season.

Going for No. 500
The Racers are currently 497-642-2 in their 47th season of basketball. With three 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.

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 eight 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.

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
The Racers will remain on the road for one more game, at UT Martin, Saturday, Feb. 4 before returning to the CFSB Center for a four-game home stand (Feb. 6-16).

Murray State University Athletics

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