Murray State University Athletics
Players Mentioned
James Named OVC Player of the Year to Headline Honors
2/27/2018 1:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Ke'Shunan James became just the fourth Racer in program history to be named OVC Player of the Year in an announcement made Tuesday by the league office as she headlines Murray State's All-OVC selections. Bria Bethea joins James in the All-OVC honors as she was named to the second team.
James joins Karen Hubert Price (1983-84), Joi Scott (2006-07) and Ashley N. Hayes (2007-08 and 2008-09) as the only Racers to receive the prestigious honor.
James, who was also named to the All-OVC First Team for the third time in her career, led the OVC in scoring with 22.8 points per game during league play while her 21.4 points per throughout the season ranks 14th in the country.
The senior is more than just a scorer however, as she ranks fourth in the league in rebounding with 8.1 per game, is seventh in field goal percentage (48.7 percent), sixth in assists (4.2 apg) and fourth in steals (1.9 spg). James is also one of only two players in the conference that leads her team in points, rebounds, assists and steals this season.
This season, James has collected nine double-doubles, has 13 games where she scored 20 points or more, has six 30-plus point outings and a 41-point barrage, the fourth-most points scored in a single game in school history. That effort came against Austin Peay February 8, a game in which she also came just one assist shy of the third triple-double in program history.
Bria Bethea averaged 15.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game this season while also leading the Racers in blocks with 22 and 3-point shooting as she made 65 treys. Bethea's 15.9 points per game during league play ranked fifth.
Bethea scored in double figures 24 times this season and had seven 20-plus efforts and four double-doubles on the year. Bethea also led MSU with an 82 percent shooting clip at the free-throw line.
The duo of Bethea and James become the first pair of Racer teammates to be named all-conference in the same season since Hayes and current MSU assistant, Amber Guffey back in 2008-09.
Bethea, James and the rest of the Racers open OVC Tournament play Wednesday against top-seeded and No. 22 ranked Belmont at 1 p.m., from the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.
