Murray State
Abilene Christian
Wildcats Pull Away Late From MSU, Snap Winning Streak
12/17/2016 2:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Abilene Christian was able to outscore the Murray State women 27-10 in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Racers Saturday in Wichita, Kan., as MSU fell to the Wildcats 81-57. The loss snaps the Racers' season-high three-game winning streak.
MSU (7-5) got off to a slow start to begin the game as well and trailed 23-10 after one quarter. In the second period, the Racers were able to find a rhythm and closed the half on a 9-2 run and trailed just 34-30 going into halftime.
The Wildcats (5-6) were able to maintain their lead throughout the third period, although the Racers were able to keep within single digits for much of the quarter. In the fourth, things fell apart for MSU as the Racers shot just 4-for-12 from the floor in the quarter and turned the ball over seven times. The closest the Racers would get in the final period was with 7:50 to play at 55-49.
Jasmine Borders led the Racers with 13 points in the loss while Bria Bethea scored 12 off the bench and Ke'Shunan James added 11. James also added five steals and four assists on the day while Bethea grabbed six rebounds and blocked a pair of shots. Abria Gulledge scored the first nine points of the game for MSU, but foul trouble the rest of the game limited her to just 16 minutes.
The Racers shot 35.6 percent from the floor and went just 5-of-23 (21.7 percent) from 3-point range. The Wildcats shot an even 50 percent and went just 4-of-19 (21.1 percent) from beyond the arc. ACU went 15-for-22 at the free-throw line and the Racers were 10-of-13 in the loss.
ACU out-rebounded the Racers 46-27 in the contest, but had just a 15-13 edge in second-chance points. The Wildcats did double-up the Racers however in points in the paint, 52-26 and outscored the Racers bench 32-19. Both teams were sloppy with the basketball in the game as ACU committed 20 turnovers and the Racers had 19.
MSU is next in action on Wednesday as the Racers travel to Itta Bena, Miss., for a 2 p.m. contest with Mississippi Valley State. It will be the Racers' final game before the Christmas break.
