Murray State
Tennessee State
Players Mentioned
Racers Ring In New Year With OVC Opener
12/29/2016 3:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Date/Time: Dec. 31/1 p.m.
Site: Murray, Ky. – CFSB Center
Opponent (Record): Tennessee State (5-5)
Murray State Record (Streak): 8-5 (W1)
Watch Live: OVC Digital Network
Listen Live: Froggy 103.7 FM
Live Stats
All-Time vs. TSU: MSU leads the all-time series 32-24
Twitter In-Game: @RacersWBB
Last Meeting: MSU 58, TSU 69 – Jan. 16, 2016
The Murray State women's basketball team opens its OVC slate and closes the year 2016 Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., inside the CFSB Center as the Racers host Tennessee State. MSU is looking to snap a current four-game losing streak to the Lady Tigers and is also looking for its first home win in the series since 2012.
The Racers closed their non-conference schedule back on Dec. 21 with an 80-62 victory over Mississippi Valley State on the road. MSU shot a season-high 54.4 percent from the floor in the win and also hit a season-best 47.8 percent from 3-point range. The Racers shot nearly 70 percent in the second half of the victory and went 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. LeAsia Wright and Ke'Shunan James led the Racers with 23 and 22 points, respectively against the Devilettes. It marks the fourth time this season that a pair of Racers have scored 20 points or more in the same game.
The win was also the 113th career victory for Head Coach Rob Cross and moves him into 10th-place on the all-time career wins list in OVC history. Cross surpassed former Austin Peay coach Susie Gardner's 112 wins to move into the top-10.
MSU is 18-20 all-time in OVC openers and is 12-7 in conference openers that are played at home. This will be the first time that the Racers open their conference season against Tennessee State. MSU opened OVC play last season with an 83-79 win over Morehead State on January 2.
The Lady Tigers enter Saturday's OVC opener riding a four-game winning streak. TSU is led by Olivia Jones' 15.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Jones has started each of the last four games for the Lady Tigers after sitting out the first part of the season. Jayda Johnson is second on the team averaging 13.2 points per contest and I'mani Davis is averaging 11.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. As a team, TSU is shooting 38.7 percent from the floor and 30.7 percent from 3-point range. The Lady Tigers have struggled at the free-throw line, hitting just over 60 percent of their shots from the line. During its winning streak, TSU is averaging 74.8 points per contest, compared to a 63-point average overall for the year.
