Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Eureka
Players Mentioned
Golden Girls - MSU Women Open 50th Season Friday at The CFSB Center
11/8/2016 1:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Date/Time: Nov. 11/ 5 p.m.
Site: Murray, Ky. – CFSB Center
Opponent: Eureka
Watch Live: OVC Digital Network
Listen Live: Froggy 103.7 FM
Live Stats
All-Time vs. Eureka: First-ever meeting
Last Meeting: N/A
The Murray State women's basketball team opens its 50th season of play Friday at "The Bank" as the Racers welcome Eureka College to Murray. MSU is 20-29 all-time in season openers, including 24-25 in home openers. Under Head Coach Rob Cross, the Racers are 6-2 in both home and season openers.
The Racers return all five starters from last season's squad that made it to the semifinals of the OVC Tournament where they lost to Eastern Kentucky, 63-52. MSU reached the semis after an historic upset over the top-seeded UT Martin in the opening round. The Racers became the first No. 8 seed to defeat the No. 1 seed in tournament history, since the league moved to an eight-team format in 1997.
MSU returns nearly 80 percent of its scoring and rebounding from 2015-16 and is led by First Team All-OVC member Ke'Shunan James, who was seventh in the league in scoring average at 16.4 points per game during OVC play and averaged 17.7 overall a season ago. James also ranked seventh in the conference with two steals per game, 11th in assists (3.4) and 12th in rebounding (6.4). James was named to this year's Preseason All-OVC Team.
Jasmine Borders, Abria Gulledge, Kyra Gulledge and LeAsia Wright join James as returning starters in 2016-17. Bria Bethea, Kacie Fountain, Krystal James, Michaela Manley, Daniella Pisano and Taylor Reese also return from last season's squad. MSU also brings in five newcomers this year in freshmen Alex Brown, Katie Mackenzie, Jessica Organ and Jessica Richards and junior transfer Mary Jones.
The Racers were tabbed to finish in a tie for fifth-place along with Southeast Missouri in the Preseason OVC Poll with a total of 146 points. Defending OVC Tournament Champion Belmont was picked as the league favorites.
MSU is in its ninth season under coach Cross who is the all-time winningest coach in program history with 105 career victories. Cross became the first coach to earn his 100th win last season in a 66-56 victory against Eastern Illinois on January 27.
Division III Eureka College enters Friday's opener with three returning starters from last season's squad that went 11-15 in 2015-16. The Red Devils look to replace last year's leading scorer in Emily Camden who averaged 14.1 points per game. Eureka's second-leading scorer and top rebounder from a season ago, Michaela Balducci returns this season after scoring 11.5 points and pulled down eight rebounds per game in 2015-16. Eureka also returns Luci Weis (8.8 ppg) and Kerrigan Dura (5.5 ppg). Balducci and Dura both started all 26 games last season.
