Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Belmont
Players Mentioned
Racers Open Postseason Play Against No.22 Bruins
2/27/2018 1:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Date/Time: February 28/1 p.m.
Site: Evansville, Ind.
Opponent (Record): Belmont (28-3)
Murray State Record: 11-18
Watch Live: ESPN3/OVC Digital Network
Listen Live: Froggy 103.7 FM (Jeremy Rose PxP)
Live Stats
All-Time Series: Belmont leads the all-time series 11-2
Last Meeting: MSU 65, at Belmont 70 – January 17, 2018
Twitter In-Game: @RacersWBB
The Murray State women open OVC Tournament play Wednesday at 1 p.m., as the No. 8 seed Racers face top-seeded and 22nd-ranked Belmont at the Ford Center. The Bruins won the regular season OVC title after collecting their second consecutive undefeated conference season.
Wednesday will be MSU's first conference tournament game since the 2016 semifinals against EKU, in which the Colonels won 63-52. The Racers are making their 22nd appearance at the OVC Tournament in program history and are 13-20 all-time, with their lone title coming in 2008. This will be the first time that MSU will meet the Bruins in the postseason.
Tuesday afternoon, Ke'Shunan James was named the OVC's Player of the Year, becoming just the fourth Racer in program history to receive the honor. 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.
Joining James on the All-OVC teams was Bria Bethea who was named second team all-conference. 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 regular season champion Belmont Bruins enter Wednesday's quarterfinal riding a 19-game winning streak and are ranked No. 22 in the country. Kylee Smith's 18.6 points per game lead the potent Bruins offense while Darby Maggard and Sally McCabe also average in double-digit scoring with 16.7 and 14.4 points per game, respectively. Maggard leads the league in assists per game with 5.4 and is shooting 42.4 percent from 3-point range and 95.5 percent from the floor. McCabe is second on the team in rebounding with 7.3 boards per and has 81 blocks, Jenny Roy leads Belmont with 7.9 rebounds per game. Belmont leads the league in scoring average at 78.8 per and is shooting an OVC-best 46.9 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent from beyond the arc.
