Racers Wrap-Up Road Swing at Austin Peay

Murray State (4-9, 1-1 OVC) at Austin Peay (4-12, 1-2 OVC)
Saturday - 3 p.m.
Dunn Center
Clarksville, Tenn.

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The Game
The Murray State women's basketball team will be playing the last of six-straight road games, Saturday, Jan. 7 when they travel to Clarksville, Tenn., to face Austin Peay at the Dunn Center at 3 p.m.

Scouting Austin Peay
The Lady Govs are currently 4-12 overall and 1-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference standings after a 66-63 road win at Eastern Kentucky (Jan. 2). The win snapped a four-game losing streak for APSU.

The Lady Govs have one key player to watch, with the rest of the team spreading out the scoring and rebounding. Whitney Hanely is leading APSU with 17.5 points per game and 37 assists. She also adds 4.8 rebounds per outing, 22 steals, three blocks and shoots .412 from the field, .325 from beyond the arc and .900 from the charity stripe. Jasmine Rayner is also a key player, with 9.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while shooting a team-best .464 from the field. The Lady Govs normally play 10 players, but in their last game played a shorten bench of seven. Of those 10 that see regular action, four are hitting over 40 percent of their shots.

While APSU has clear disadvantages in scoring (-8.6) and rebounds (-6.7), they are close in most statistical categories. The Lady Govs are shooting .387 on the season and allowing a .417 mark from their opponents.

The second half seems to be much stronger for APSU, as they have scored 129 more points in the second stanza and allowed just 18 more by the opposition. However, they have 125 less points scored in the first half than their opponents.

The Series
The all-time series with the Lady Govs in the longest with an OVC opponent, with Saturday's game marking the 83rd meeting between the teams. The series dates back to 1931, with the Racers holding a slight 42-40 edge. However, it has been APSU that has been on the winning side for the last six meetings, dating back to March 6, 2009. The last MSU win was Feb. 7, 2009 at the Dunn Center (94-76), with the Lady Govs holding a 25-15 lead in the series when played in Clarksville.

Five-Time OVC Player of the Week
For the third-straight week and the fifth time this season, red-shirt sophomore Erica Burgess was named the adidas Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week, for Jan. 4.

The Memphis, Tenn., native recorded career-highs of 23 points and eight made free throws in the win over Southeast Missouri (Dec. 31). She finished the week going a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity strip. She averaged 15.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists over the two games.

Record OVC Opening Night
Several members of the Racers had record setting nights in the 2011-12 OVC opener against Southeast Missouri. Junior Tessa Elkins and red-shirt sophomore Erica Burgess both recorded career highs in the points column, with 17 and 23 respectively. Burgess also went 8-of-8 from the charity stripe for a career night. Senior Kayla Lowe got in the action with a career-best four assists. However, the career night was key for freshman Beth Mahurin. The Rockville, Ind., native hit career bests of six points, eight rebounds and three field goals. She recorded all of her career highs before the end of the first half and added to them during the second.

Ranking Among the Nations Best
MSU has found itself ranked in the top-20 in three NCAA statistical categories, and is just one of two schools to be ranked in all three. The Racers join women's basketball powerhouse Connecticut in the top-20 in three-point field goals made, steals and turnover margin.

MSU's high pressure style of play and defensive intensity, despite a heavy road schedule, has led the Racers to be ranked No. 20 is steals per game, with 12.8 per outing and No. 19 in turnover margin, forcing 6.17 more turnovers per game. UConn is ranked 13th in steals (13.4) and fifth (8.5) in turnover margin.

Both teams are also strong three-point shooting teams making over seven triples per game. The Huskies are No. 12, with 7.8 per outing, while the Racers are ranked No. 20 (7.3).

Making Move Up or On Top-10 Lists
Three members of the team are currently on or close to making their mark on three top-10 lists at MSU. Junior Mariah Robinson is currently ranked No. 6 on the three's made chart, with 126. She is just four from No. 5 (130-Paige Guffey). Senior Kayla Lowe also joined Robinson on the list, with her 97 career triples, for the No. 10 spot.

Fellow senior Mallory Schwab is also making an effort to get on a top-10 list, blocks. The Martinsville, Ind., native has 44 blocks to her name and the chart start at 46 (four players).

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 847 points, just 153 away from the milestone and is averaging 14.1 points per game this season.

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 the next 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 Jan. 9 game against EKU is the Colonels featured night and the Racers will be featured Feb. 16 (Thursday vs. UT Martin).

Three Point Season
The Racers have made 96 triples this season, 41.4 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 two have not attempted a shot from beyond the arc and 8-of-10 have made at least one.

Going for No. 500/50
The Racers are currently 493-638-2 in their 47th season of basketball. With seven 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. With one more wins head coach Rob Cross will also reach his 50th career win.

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 six 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. Overall the Racers have forced 298 turnovers and have committed just 223.

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
After over a month on the road, playing six games, the Racers will return to the friendly confines of the CFSB Center for three-straight games starting, Monday, Jan. 9 against Eastern Kentucky at 7 p.m. The home stand will also include games against Tennessee Tech (Jan. 14) and Jacksonville State (Jan. 16).

Murray State University Athletics

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