Women’s Basketball Struggles at Stetson

Friday, December 20

DeLand, Fla.

12 p.m.

Murray State

6-5

103

Stetson

7-4

Murray St.

Stetson

103

12/20/2013 2:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

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

The Murray State women's basketball team suffered a disappointing 103-72 loss at the hands of Stetson in the opening game of the 2013 Hatter Classic Friday afternoon at the Edmunds Center in DeLand, Fla.

Stetson (7-4) opened the game strong and jumped out to an early 32-16 lead with 7:51 remaining in the opening stanza. The Racers (6-5), though, did not give up and cut the lead to five, at 35-30, over the next 2:46.

However the Hatters, answered with a 15-4 run of their own that was capped by a 3-point buzzer-beater by Sasha Sims. The run totally erased the earlier run by MSU and returned the deficit to 16, as Murray State trailed, 50-36, at the break.

In the second half, the Hatters picked up right where they left off and opened the frame on a 20-3 run and never looked back. The Racers shot just 33.3 in the contest, which was only accentuated by the extremely hot-shooting Hatters. The Hatters shot 52.9 percent from the floor in the first half and 50.0 in the second, to finish the game at 51.4 percent.

Keiona Kirby led Murray State on the afternoon with 12 points, while Janssen Starks followed with 11. Chanyere Hosey led MSU on the glass in the game with eight rebounds, to go along with seven points.

Sasha Sims led five Hatters in double-figures with 28 and was followed by 24 from Cherisse Burris. Brianti Saunders turned in the only double-double of the game by grabbing a game-high 18 rebounds and scoring 12 points, as well as coming up with five blocks.

The Racers will close out play in the 2013 Hatter Classic Saturday when they meet Bethune-Cookman and 3 p.m. EDT. The game will be the final non-conference contest of the season for Murray State before opening OVC play on Dec. 30 at Eastern Kentucky.