Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Jacksonville State
Players Mentioned
Racers Hit The Road To JSU & TTU This Weekend
1/8/2020 2:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Date (Time): Jan. 9 & 11 (5 & 5:30 p.m.)
Opponent: Jacksonville St. & Tennessee Tech
Site (Venue): Jacksonville, Ala. (Pete Mathews Coliseum) & Cookeville, Tenn. (Eblen Center)
Audio: 1340 AM WNBS (PxP: Jeremy Rose)
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
Twitter In Game: @RacersWBB
MUR Record (Streak): 8-5, 1-1 OVC (Won 1)
JSU Record (Streak): 5-8, 1-1 OVC (Won 1)
All-Time Series vs. JSU (Streak): Racers lead 17-7 (Won 1)
All-Time Series in Jacksonville (Streak): Racers lead 9-2 (Won 1)
Last Five vs. JSU: 2-3 (WLLWL)
TTU Record (Streak): 9-4, 2-0 OVC (Won 5)
All-Time Series vs. TTU (Streak): Golden Eagles lead 63-19 (Lost 1)
All-Time Series in Cookeville (Streak): Golden Eagles lead 38-5 (Lost 1)
Last Five vs. TTU: 3-2 (LWWLW)
MUR Next Game: Jan. 16 at UT Martin
MUR Next Home Game: Jan. 23 vs. Belmont
The Games
The Murray State women's basketball team begins a four-game road stretch Thursday with a trip to Alabama to take on Jacksonville State, followed by a clash with Tennessee Tech Saturday in Cookeville.
Last Time Out
The Murray State Racers split their opening weekend of OVC play by falling to UT Martin Thursday, 64-89, but bouncing back to top SEMO Saturday, 70-62. Against UT Martin, the Racers struggled from the opening tip and after a 16-3 run by the Skyhawks in the opening quarter, they were never really able to recover. Laci Hawthorne scored a career-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds to lead the Racers, while Macey Turley followed with seven points, six rebounds and five assists. Against Southeast Missouri, Sadie Hill scored 19 second half point to help rally Murray State past the Redhawks. Murray State was able to overcome 22 turnovers and 27 SEMO offensive rebounds in the game, thanks in part to 41.3-shooting in the half including 53.8 in the fourth quarters. Alexis Burpo pulled down a career-high 13 boards in the game, while Cekeya Mack added six points and eight rebounds off the bench.
The Jacksonville State Series
Murray State won for just the second time in the past seven meetings last year in Jacksonville, improving their overall series lead to 17-7. In Jacksonville, the Racers are 9-2 all-time, however the two losses have been relatively recent, coming in 2015 and 2018."
Scouting The Gamecocks
The Gamecocks split their first weekend of OVC play by falling to Morehead State, but topping Eastern Kentucky and will enter the coming weekend at 5-8 overall. Jacksonville State currently averages 61.4 points per game on 35.4-percent shooting, while their opponents shoot 38.5-percent from the floor and average 64.2 points per game. Destiney Hawkins currently leads Jax State in both points and rebounds per game at 12.8 and 6.8 per game, respectively, while Taylor Hawks follows at 12.4 points per game.
The Tennessee Tech Series
Murray State has not had much luck against Tennessee Tech over the years, winning just 18 of 82 all-time-meetings, but despite last year's loss, recent results have gone in the Racers' favor. MSU has won three of the last six meetings and four of the last eight, with two of those wins coming in Cookeville, where the Racers are just 5-38 all-time.
Scouting The Golden Eagles
The Golden Eagles cruised to a 2-0 OVC start last week with an 18-point win at Eastern Kentucky and a 20-point win at Morehead State. With the pair of league wins, Tennessee Tech is now 9-4 overall on the year. TTU is statistically one of the best teams in the league and is currently leading the OVC in scoring margin by outscoring opponents on the year 71.6 to 59.8.
The Golden Eagles both shoot the ball and defend well as they lead the OVC in field goal percentage 41.8 and are second in field goal percentage defense at 36.9. In addition, they are also extremely disciplined as they also lead the league in both fouls per game at just 14.5 and turnovers at 14.4. Kesha Brady leads a Golden Eagle team that sees 10 players average 10-plus minutes per game with 15.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, while MacKenzie Coleman follows at 11.0 and 5.7, respectively.
Close Quarters
Including Saturday's win over SEMO, five of MSU's eight wins have come by 10 points or less this season. The Racers are currently 5-1 this season in games decided by 10 or fewer points.
40.0 Below
Murray State limited SEMO to a season low 30.5-percent from the floor in win. That marks the seventh time this season that the Racers have held their foes to under 40-percent shooting and are currently 7-0 in those games.
Three In a Row
Saturday marked Murray State's third straight win over SEMO, a feat that had previously been accomplished twice since 1990. Should the Racers win at SEMO on Jan. 17, it would be the first four-game win streak against the Redhawks since the six straight wins to begin the series from 1974-1989.
