Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Southern Illinois
Players Mentioned
Racers Face First Road Test of the Season Thursday
11/16/2016 12:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Date/Time: Nov. 17/6 p.m.
Site: Carbondale, Ill. – SIU Arena
Opponent (Record): Southern Illinois (0-1)
Murray State Record (Streak): 2-0 (W2)
Watch Live: ESPN 3
Listen Live: WNBS 1340 AM
Live Stats
All-Time vs. SIU: SIU leads the all-time series 34-6
Last Meeting: MSU 57, SIU 70 – 12/2/15 (CFSB Center)
The Murray State women's basketball team faces its first road test of the 2016-17 season as the Racers travel to face Southern Illinois in a 6 p.m. contest Thursday in Carbondale, Ill. The Racers are looking for their first win at SIU since 1988 and have lost their last 10 meetings in Carbondale.
For the second consecutive season, the Racers have begun the season with two straight victories. MSU is looking for its first 3-0 start to a season since 2009-10, when the Racers opened the year 4-0. The Racers play four of their first five games at home this season. Thursday's contest will be MSU's lone game away from "The Bank" until after Thanksgiving.
MSU is coming off an 81-49 victory Monday night over Alabama A&M at the CFSB Center. Bria Bethea scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 4-of-6 from 3-point range in the win. Bethea scored 14 of her points in the 3rd quarter alone and provided a spark off the Racers' bench which led to a 31-6 advantage in bench points.
Abria Gulledge added 15 points in the contest and Ke'Shunan James filled up the stat sheet with 14 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and five steals. James is now just two points shy of becoming the 19th member of the 1,000-point club in program history.
The Salukis have played just one game this season, an 80-48 loss at nationally ranked Oklahoma. SIU was led by All-Missouri Valley guard Rishonda Napier's 14 points while Kylie Giebelhausen scored 12 and pulled down seven rebounds. Lauren Hartman also grabbed seven boards and scored five points in the loss. The Salukis shot just 25.3 percent in the loss while the Sooners hit nearly 44 percent of their shots. SIU also shot 5-of-30 from 3-point range and were out-rebounded 49-46. SIU is led by Head Coach Cindy Stein who is in her fourth season.
Last season, James led MSU with 19 points and pulled down seven boards in the 70-57 loss to the Salukis in December. Kyra Gulledge had a game-high 11 rebounds in the loss. The Racers were outscored 44-28 in the second half of the contest and 28-10 in the third quarter, after leading at halftime, 29-26.
