Murray State
11-18 (7-11)
Austin Peay
16-13 (9-9)
Racers Fall in OT Heartbreaker
2/24/2018 7:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State women came up short in an overtime heartbreaker Saturday night at Austin Peay, losing 75-69 at the Dunn Center.
Trailing 27-26 with 1:34 to play in the second quarter, the Racers (11-18, 7-11 OVC) were able to close the half on a 10-3 run and led 33-27 at the break. The third quarter brought back-and-forth action but a layup by Brianna Crane with two seconds to go put the Racers up 46-43 going into the final period.
In the fourth, the Racers looked to be in control with 6:36 to play as they led 54-48 after Ke'Shunan James converted a three-point play, but, back-to-back 3-pointers from the Governors (16-13, 9-9 OVC) tied the game at 54-54.
APSU was able to build its biggest lead of the game since early in the first quarter with just 1:21 left to play as a layup put the Govs up 63-58. This time, it was the Racers' time to respond as three consecutive made free throws cut the deficit to 63-61 before a steal and layup by Jasmine Borders with 19 seconds to play tied the game.
The Govs' last-second deep 3-point attempt was off the front of the rim and the Racers headed to their first overtime contest of the season. In the OT, the Racers jumped out to a quick four-point lead thanks to a layup and pair of free throws by James. The Governors again hit back-to-back 3-pointers to respond and led 69-67 with 3:33 to play. From there, MSU got just one more field goal on a runner by James with just over a minute to go.
James led all scorers in the loss with 28 points. In two games this season against the Govs, James averaged 34.5 points per game. Bria Bethea and Brianna Crane were the other two Racers in double figures, scoring 13 and 11, respectively. Bethea grabbed a team-best nine rebounds in the contest.
MSU shot 39.1 for the night and went 7-of-21 from 3-point range while the Govs hit 40.1 percent from the floor and went 8-for-18 from beyond the arc, but were 7-of-11 in the second half and overtime. The Govs also had a huge advantage on the glass, out-rebounding the Racers by 17 and tallying a 15-5 edge in second-chance points.
The Racers shot the ball well at the free-throw line, going 12-of-14 while the Govs went just 13-for-21. MSU also had a 16-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
With the loss, MSU remains the No. 8 seed for next week's OVC Tournament in Evansville, Ind. The Racers will face top-seeded Belmont at 1 p.m., from the Ford Center.
