Racers Host Redhawks in Be Bold Wear Gold Night

Murray State (10-14, 6-5 OVC) vs. Southeast Missouri (6-18, 3-8 OVC)
Saturday - 4:30 p.m.
CSFB Center
Murray, Ky.

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The Game
The Murray State women's basketball team will be hosting Southeast Missouri, Saturday, Feb. 11 in the annual Be Bold Wear Gold Night at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky. The game is set to tip-off at 4:30 p.m., with the men's game to follow (vs. Austin Peay) at 7:30 p.m.

Scouting Southeast Missouri
The Redhawks are 6-18 overall and 3-8 in Ohio Valley Conference action after earning a 50-39 win over Tennessee State last Saturday (Feb. 4).

SEMO has three main players to watch who account for 55 percent of the teams made shots, 51 percent of those taken and 42 percent of the team's rebounds this season. Bailie Roberts leads the team with 9.8 points per game and adds 6.1 rebounds, while shooting .363 from the field. Brittany Harriel is next with 9.3 points and a team-best 7.1 rebounds per outing, while shooting at a .447 mark. Karley Evans is the other key player to watch, with 6.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. She accounts for the majority of the Redhawks three's, with 117 taken and a .222 (26 made) percentage.

SEMO is a defense minded team, with the Redhawks averaging just 51.3 points per game and allowing just 63.5 by their opponents. They trial their opponents in all the statistical categories on the season box score, but are close in most. SEMO also forces low shooting percentages (.331 to .394 and .212 to .299 -3's)

Against the Redhawks
In the first meeting between the teams this season, the Racers earned an 80-75 win over SEMO at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

MSU was led by junior Tessa Elkins and red-shirt sophomore Erica Burgess. Elkins was a consistent scorer for MSU, garnering 17 points and adding seven rebounds. Burgess recorded a team-best 23 points. Senior Kayla Lowe also added a double-digit point total, with 10. Freshman Beth Mahurin led the team defensively with a career-high eight rebounds and added a career-best six points.

The Redhawks were led by Brittany Harriel, who tallied a double-double, on 26 points and 12 rebounds. Karley Evans added 19 points and Bailie Roberts tallied 14.

The Racers shot over 40 percent from the field, with a 45.7 (26-of-57) mark, to SEMO's 41.5 percent (27-of-65). MSU also took a key advantage at the free-throw line making 24-of-31 (77.4%) and allowing the Redhawks to hit just 15-of-25 (60.0%) attempts.

The Series
The meeting at the CFSB Center will be the 55th in the all-times series, in which the Redhawks own a 32-21 advantage. The Racers have won the last two games and four of the last five. The series is much closer when played in Murray, with MSU holding a slight 12-11 lead.

Going for No. 500
The Racers are currently 499-643-2 in their 47th season of basketball. With one more win 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.

Elkins Doubling Up
Junior Tessa Elkins made a diving play at the end of the game against Tennessee State that resulted in her first career double-double. The Cincinnati, Ohio native threw the ball to a waiting teammate and then went out-of-bounds, but it recorded her 10th rebound of the game to go with her 14 points, two assists, one block and one steal.

1,000 Point Club Membership
Junior Mariah Robinson earned her membership in the 1,000 Point Club at Murray State, Feb. 1, 2012 against Morehead State. The Beaver Dam, Ky., native became the 18th member of the club and the ninth Racer to do so during her junior campaign. Robinson took 79 career games to reach the milestone and is the eighth fastest 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
Mariah Robinson (2009-Pr.) - 79 games
Jackie Mounts (1977-78) - 80 games

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.

Dynamic Duos
For the second time in the 2011-12 season a duo of players combined for 20+ points each. Senior Mallory Schwab garnered a career-high 26 points and junior Mariah Robinson added 25 against Morehead State. Red-shirt sophomore Erica Burgess (31) and Robinson (21) both had outstanding games for the Racers against Longwood. 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).

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 162. She is 48 from No. 1 (210-Amber Guffey). Senior Kayla Lowe also joined Robinson on the list, with her 124 career triples, tied for the No. 7 spot. She is six from No. 6 (130-Paige Guffey).

Fellow senior Mallory Schwab also earned her way onto the blocks top-10 list. The Martinsville, Ind., native has 50 blocks and is No. 8. She needs three more to move up to No. 7 (53-Shaleea Petty).

Three Point Season
The Racers have made 181 triples this season, 78.0 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.

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 11 different starting line-ups this season, the second most for a Division I team this season. The only other team with more this season is Austin Peay with 14 different starting line-up combinations. MSU has also started nine of their 12 players on the team, with only Erica Burgess earning a starting role in all the Racers games this season.

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 continue their four-game home stand at the CFSB Center from Feb. 6-16. The Racers will face Austin Peay (Feb. 13) and UT Martin (Feb. 16) before playing the final two regular-season games on the road at Tennessee State (Feb. 23) and Tennessee Tech (Feb. 25).

Murray State University Athletics

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