Second Half Slump Dooms Racers Against TTU

Monday, January 27

CFSB Center

7 p.m.

Murray State

8-12 (1-7OVC)

Tennessee Tech

8-13 (5-3OVC)

Team	1	2	F
Tennessee Tech	41	40	81
Murray St.	34	31	65

Photo by: Kyser Lough/Ledger & Times

1/27/2014 9:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

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A poor-shooting second half led the Murray State women's basketball to a fifth straight loss Monday night, 81-65, at the hands of Tennessee Tech at the CFSB Center.

Murray State (8-12, 1-7) made just four field goals in the first 12 and half minutes of the closing stanza, with two separate field goal droughts that combined for over eight minutes. The Racers went just 10-for-33 from the floor in the stanza and only two of nine from beyond the arc.

In the first half, the Racers also got off to a slow start and fell behind early, 12-5. However, MSU answered with its own 10-3 run and began to chip away the lead. The Racers actually took the lead at 32-30 with 3:57 to play, but Tennessee Tech (8-12, 1-7) ended the half on an 11-2 run to take a 41-34 lead at the break.

Another key factor was the disparity on the glass, with Tennessee Tech outrebounding the Racers, 53-39. The 22 board margin was the largest deficit of the season and the largest since being outrebounded by 20 at Western Kentucky in November. The 31 rebounds by MSU in the game was 17.4 below its current average and stands as its lowest output of the season.

Taylor Porter led Murray State on the night with a career-high 18 points, while Janssen Starks followed with 15. Two other Racers scored in double-digits in the contest with Jessica Winfrey putting up 11 and Julia Fox adding 10. Winfrey also led MSU in rebounds on the night with seven, but was held well below her season average of 11.7

Diamond Henderson scored 17 points in just 19 minutes to lead TTU, while Hannah Goolsby and Molly Heady had 15 and 11, respectively. Kayla Brewer pulled down a game-high 11 boards, while Candace Parson also registered double-digits with 10.

The Racers will have a quick turnaround, as they will be back in action on Thursday evening. Murray State will travel to Clarksville to face rival Austin Peay at 7 p.m. at the Dunn Center.