Racers Suffer Setback at Alabama A&M

Saturday, December 14

Huntsville, Ala.

2 p.m.

Murray State

6-4

Alabama A&M

1-6

Murray State

Alabama A&M

12/14/2013 3:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

| Box Score (PDF) | Season Stats (PDF)

The Murray State women's basketball team came out on the wrong end of a see-saw battle Saturday, dropping a 69-62 decision to Alabama A&M at T.M. Elmore Gymnasium in Huntsville.

Alabama A&M (1-0) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the contest with two baskets in the first 30 seconds. With the Racers (6-4) on their heels, the Bulldogs were able to parlay the quick four points into a 17-7 lead with 13 minutes to play in the opening half.

However, from that point Murray State took off on a 21-4 run that included 13 straight unanswered points. With Murray State leading, 28-23, with 5:29 remaining, both teams went cold and combined for just one field goal in the final five minutes of the half. It was Alabama A&M that scored in the waning minutes, cutting the lead to four and giving MSU a slim 31-27 advantage at the break.

In the second, half the Bulldogs once against started strong and opened with a 12-3 lead. Once Alabama A&M took over the lead and led by as many as six, the Racers slowly chipped away until finally regaining the lead at 53-52 with 5:34 to play. The lead did not last long as the Bulldogs allowed only one MSU field goal in the final five minutes to top the Racers, 67-62.

One of the key factors in the loss was the season-low 10 points from the Murray Sate bench. It was only the second time this season that Racer subs failed to score at least 20 points, as they entered the game averaging 28.9. MSU also shot just 32.3 percent from the floor, marking just the third time this season that the Racers shot below 35 percent.

Jessica Winfrey and Nikia Edom led Murray State with 13 points each, while Keiona Kirby and Jashae Lee rounded out the four Racers in double-digits with 12 and 10, respectively. Winfrey and Lee also led MSU on the boards in game with eight. Alabama A&M's Jasmine Sanders scored the game's lone double-double with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Brittney Strickland led all scorers with 22 points.

The Racers now travel to DeLand, Fla., this weekend where they will close out their non-conference schedule with two games as part of Stetson's Hatter Classic. On Friday, Murray State will battle the host Hatters at 12 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. Saturday showdown with Bethune-Cookman.