Ohio Pulls Away From MSU in Second Half

Saturday, November 26

Athens, Ohio

1 p.m.

Murray State

4-2

Ohio

4-0

MUR

OHIO

11/26/2016 3:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Entering Saturday's contest, the Murray State women were outscoring opponents 23-11 in first quarters and 23-15 in third quarters of games this season. However, on Saturday, the Racers were outscored 24-14 in the first and 20-13 in the third as Ohio University defeated MSU 79-70 at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.

Trailing by as many as 12 in the first half, the Racers (4-2) were able to go on a 14-0 run in the second period and took a brief 30-28 lead with 4:33 left in the half on a Kyra Gulledge layup. MSU trailed at the break, 38-36.

Ohio stymied the Racers offensively for much of the second half as MSU shot just 31 percent in the final two periods after shooting 41 percent in the first half. MSU also nailed eight 3-pointers in the first two quarters and made just four in the third and fourth.

MSU trailed by as many as 17 with 3:17 to go, before going on a little run to close the game and had multiple opportunities to cut the deficit to seven or fewer with under a minute left to play.
LeAsia Wright led the Racers with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 4-for-7 from 3-point range. Wright also added eight rebounds and three assists in the loss. Ke'Shunan James chipped in with 18 points and Abria Gulledge scored 14 and made three from beyond the arc. Kyra Gulledge led MSU with nine rebounds on the afternoon.

The Bobcats (4-0) controlled the inside all day as they outscored the Racers 44-14 in points in the paint and 14-9 on second-chance points. OU out-rebounded the Racers 45-37 in the contest and also had six more (18-12) offensive rebounds. Ohio also scored 16 points off of 16 MSU turnovers while the Racers got just six points on Ohio's nine turnovers.

For the game, MSU shot 36 percent from the floor and went 12-of-33 (36.4 percent) from 3-point range. Ohio shot 42.6 percent from the field and hit just 7-of-29 (24 percent) from deep. Both teams made 14 free throws in the game with MSU hitting a season-best 93.3 percent as a team at the line.

The Racers continue their two-game swing Monday as they travel to Johnson City, Tenn., to face East Tennessee State in a 6 p.m., central time tip.