Racers Fall to Redbirds

Wednesday, November 18

Normal, Ill.

7 p.m.

Murray State

2-1

Illinois State

1-1

Murray State

Illinois State

Photo by: Kristy Griffith

11/18/2015 9:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

The Murray State women suffered their first defeat of the season Wednesday night as the Racers fell on the road to Illinois State 81-76. LeAsia Wright scored a career-high 21 points and hit a career-best five 3-pointers in the loss.

The first half was a tale of two quarters as the Racers (2-1) got out to a fast start, opening the game with an 11-2 run and led 25-13 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was the exact opposite for MSU as the Racers were outscored in the frame 25-13 and the two teams went to the break all tied at 38-38.

MSU went 10-for-18 in the opening quarter and went 4-for-4 at the free-throw line while hitting three 3-pointers. In the second period, the Racers went just 3-of-15. The Redbirds (1-1) went 9-of-22 in the second quarter and shot the ball well in the first (6-of-12) but committed seven turnovers in the opening 10 minutes and had just seven more miscues the rest of the game.

The Racers struggled to begin the second half, going just 4-for-16 in the third quarter, including just 1-of-8 from beyond the arc and were outscored in the period 17-11. MSU faced its biggest deficit of the game with 3:39 left to play and trailing 71-60. However, the Racers made a run at it, cutting ISU's lead to three at 79-76 with 10 seconds left to play before the Redbirds closed it out.

Illinois State shot 28-for-65 (43.1 percent) from the field and made 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) 3-pointers while the Racers shot 35.8 percent (24-for-67) from the floor and made 10-of-29 (34.5 percent) from beyond the arc. ISU made 20 free throws in the contest on 30 attempts while MSU went 18-for-24 from the line.

MSU was outscored in the paint for the first time this season as ISU held a 38-24 edge in that department and also outscored the Racers 15-11 in second-chance points while also out-rebounding MSU 47-39. Both benches scored 24 points in the contest.

Wright's 21 led all scorers as she went 7-for-19 from the field and 5-of-12 from long range. Wright also grabbed seven boards, had a team-high four assists along with Ke'Shunan James and added two steals. James scored 16 points in the loss and also had six rebounds. Bria Bethea and Kyra Gulledge each added 10 points while Gulledge grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

The Racers return home this weekend as Central Arkansas comes to the CFSB Center Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest. It will be the first of two meetings this season between the Racers and the Sugar Bears.