Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Jacksonville State
Players Mentioned
MSU Faces First OVC Road Test Thursday at JSU
1/3/2017 1:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Date/Time: Jan. 5/5:30 p.m.
Site: Jacksonville, Ala. – Mathews Coliseum
Opponent (Record): Jacksonville State (7-7, 0-2 OVC)
Murray State Record (Streak): 9-5, 1-0 OVC (W2)
Watch Live: OVC Digital Network
Listen Live: Froggy 103.7 FM
Live Stats
All-Time vs. JSU: MSU leads the all-time series 15-4
Twitter In-Game: @RacersWBB
Last Meeting: MSU 71, JSU 74 – Jan. 9, 2016
Fresh off its OVC-opening win over Tennessee State to close out 2016, the Murray State women's basketball team hits the road for the first time in conference play as the Racers face Jacksonville State Thursday night in Jacksonville, Ala., at 5:30.
The Racers are looking to start the season 2-0 in the OVC for the second consecutive season and are also looking to snap a two-game skid against the Gamecocks. The last time these two teams met at Mathews Coliseum, JSU prevailed 78-73 in overtime back in 2015.
The Racer women are looking for their third consecutive road victory on Thursday. After beginning the season 0-3 in road games, MSU has won its last two true road games, having defeated NKU 72-69 in overtime back on Dec. 10 and winning 80-62 in its last road contest Dec. 21 at Mississippi Valley State. The Racers went 1-1 Dec. 16 and 17 at Wichita State in a pair of neutral site contests.
MSU is coming off an 80-72 victory over TSU on Saturday. The Racers overcame a slow first half start to score a season-high 53 points in the second half, including 29 in the third quarter. Ke'Shunan James and LeAsia Wright led the Racers with 25 and 20 points, respectively in the win. It marked the fifth time this season that a pair of Racers have scored 20 points or more in the same game. Jasmine Borders added a season-high 17 points against the Lady Tigers and Kyra Gulledge had a game-high 12 rebounds and also had five blocks and three steals in the win.
Last season's 74-71 loss to the Gamecocks was MSU's first defeat in OVC play after beginning conference play 2-0. James scored a game-high 26 points in the loss while Wright added 18. In two games during her career against JSU, James is averaging 27 points per game. Head Coach Rob Cross is 9-3 in his career against the Gamecocks.
The Gamecocks enter Thursday's contest looking for their first conference win of the season, having lost their first two OVC contests at UT Martin (83-94) and Eastern Illinois (67-71) in double overtime. Briana Benson leads JSU averaging 15 points per game and is second on the team with 5.4 rebounds per contest. Lacey Buchanon is second on the Gamecocks with 9.2 points per game and is the only player to have started all 14 games this season. Tyler Phelion is averaging 9.1 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game. As a team, JSU is shooting 40 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from 3-point range. The Gamecocks have won the last two contests against the Racers.
Both Thursday night's and Saturday's game against Tennessee Tech will be doubleheaders along with the MSU men.
