Racers Fall 71-63 in Hard Fought Game with Lady Govs

Saturday, January 7

Clarksville, Tenn.

3:00 PM

Murray State

Austin Peay

Photo by: Tab Brockman

1/7/2012 6:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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The Murray State women's basketball team dropped a 71-63 decision to Austin Peay in a hard fought game at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tenn.

The Racers (4-10, 1-2 OVC) were led by freshman Ashleigh McBean, who tallied a career-best 16 points and added seven rebounds. Junior Mariah Robinson added 17 points and four boards, while senior Kayla Lowe netted 11 points and nine rebounds. Junior Tessa Elkins also had a strong performance with nine points and nine rebounds.

“We had great energy in the first half and closing the game,” said head coach Rob Cross. “We also did a great job on the boards. I am really proud of the effort Ashleigh McBean gave tonight, we finally got to see in a game what she is capable of offensively. But in the end our effort was not enough because we didn't do all we could do defensively down the stretch.”

The first half was a balanced attack from both teams. The Racers opened the stanza with a 5-0 run, but it was countered by the Lady Govs immediately following the end of the run. The teams then traded 7-0 and 6-0 runs over the first 10 minutes of the half with the Racers holding a 13-12 lead with 9:05 left to play. The teams then traded baskets for the next five minutes that left APSU with a 24-19 advantage. With 3:30 left to play in the stanza, MSU started an 8-2 run that lasted the rest of the playing time and gave them a 27-26 advantage heading into the intermission.

The second half stared with the Racers going on a 10-2 run in the first six minutes to give them a 37-28 advantage. However, the Lady Govs then started to push the tempo of the game and used a 6-0 run and then an 11-3 run in the middle of the stanza to take a 55-47 lead. The teams then traded three's, but APSU kept pushing and increased their lead to as many as 14 before the Racers gave a final fight in the last three minutes of the game. MSU went on a 10-4 run in the final minutes, but it was not enough to overcome the lead that the Lady Govs had built.

Turnovers and shooting percentage were the keys to the game, with APSU holding advantages in both columns. The Racers committed 19 turnovers to the Lady Govs nine and APSU scored 29 points off of those turnovers. The Lady Govs also shot 43.3 percent from the field to MSU's 39.0 percent.

This was the final of six-straight road games for the Racers, who will now return home to the friendly confines of the CFSB Center for three-straight games. The first game will be against Eastern Kentucky, Monday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. The game is the first of six-straight Monday's with a game at the CFSB Center.

Notes: Freshman Ashleigh McBean ended the first half with career-highs of 14 points and four free throws…her previous highs were seven and one, respectively.