Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Austin Peay
Players Mentioned
Must-Wins – Racers Face Govs & Eagles In Pivotal Contests
2/12/2020 4:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Date (Time): Feb. 13 & 15 (5 p.m. & 2 p.m.)
Opponents: Austin Peay/Morehead State
Site (Venue): Clarksville, Tenn. (Dunn Center)/Murray, Ky. (CFSB Center)
Audio: WBZB 104.5 FM/WNBS 1340 AM (PxP: Jeremy Rose)
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
Twitter In Game: @RacersWBB
MUR Record (Streak): 10-11, 4-8 OVC (Lost 2)
APSU Record (Streak): 13-10, 4-8 OVC (Lost 1)
All-Time Series vs. APSU (Streak): Racers lead 52-47 (Won 1)
All-Time Series in Murray (Streak): Racers lead 34-14 (Won 7)
Last Five vs. APSU: 3-2 (WLLWW)
MOR Record (Streak): 9-15, 5-7 OVC (Lost 1)
All-Time Series vs. MOR (Streak): Eagles lead 45-39 (Lost 4)
All-Time Series in Murray (Streak): Racers lead 23-17 (Lost 2)
Last Five vs. MOR: 1-4 (LLLLW)
MUR Next Game: Feb. 20 at Eastern Ill.
MUR Next Home Game: Feb. 27 vs. Eastern Ky.
The Games
The Murray State women's basketball will travel to Austin Peay Thursday and host Morehead State Saturday in two games with huge postseason implications. With the Govs and Racers tied for the eighth spot and the Eagles one game ahead in seventh, Murray State will almost assuredly need two wins this weekend to keep their OVC tournament hopes alive.
Last Time Out
The Murray State women's basketball team dropped two contests last week at Belmont and Tennessee State. The Racers never really found their groove in either contest and trailed for the majority of both games. Macie Gibson led Murray State at Belmont with 17 points including a career-high five three pointers and seven rebounds. Alexis Burpo has 12 points and nine rebounds in the game, while Macey Turley had 10 points. At Tennessee State, Burpo dropped 22 points and pulled down eight boards, while Raegan Blackburn came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points.
The Austin Peay Series
Murray State enters Saturday's First Financial Bank Battle of the Border matchup leading the all-time series with Austin Peay, 52-47, but trailing in Clarksville, 31-17. Since the series began in 1931, the home team has enjoyed a significant advantage by winning 68-percent of the combined non-neutral site contests. Recently, the series has been fairly even with the Racers holding a slight advantage by winning six of the last 10.
Scouting The Govs
Austin Peay also enters the weekend with a 4-8 OVC record, making Thursday's game a virtual must-win in terms of the OVC tournament for both teams. The Govs currently average 66.8 points and 36.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 37.7-percent from the floor, 30.8-percent from 3-point range and 63.7-percent from the free throw line. In contrast, the Govs' opponents are shooting 44.8-percent from the floor, 31.7-percent from 3-point range, 68.6-percent from the free throw line and are averaging 66.0 points per game and 37.5. rebounds. Arielle Gonzalez-Varner currently leads Austin Peay with 10.6 rebounds per game, while also leading on the boards at 7.7 rebounds per game.
The Morehead State Series
With two wins last season, Morehead State has now extended its current win-streak in the series to four and pushed out the lead in the overall series to six games at 45-39. While the Racers do lead the series in Murray, at 23-17, the Eagles have won each of the last two games at the CFSB Center.
Scouting The Eagles
Morehead State enters the weekend one game up on the Racers in the OVC standings at 5-7, making Saturday's another must-win for Murray State. The Eagles currently average 66.8 points and 40.1 rebounds per game, while shooting 38.0-percent from the floor, 26.2-percent from 3-point range and 71.9-percent from the free throw line. In contrast, the Eagles' opponents are shooting 40.0-percent from the floor, 31.4-percent from 3-point range, 68.7-percent from the free throw line and are averaging 65.7 points per game and 38.0. rebounds. Breuna Jackson currently leads three Morehead State players averaging 10-plus points per game at 10.9, while Ariel Kirkwood and Jazzmyn Elston average 10.3 each. In addition, Kirkwood leads the Eagles in rebounding at 8.6 per game, while Orlandra Humphries follows at 7.0.
Battle of the Border
Thursday's game at Austin Peay is another First Financial Battle of the Border matchup. The Racers built a solid lead in the fall in the all-sports competition, dropping just one game and currently leading 15-3. MSU needs just 18.5 more points of the required 33.5 to keep the trophy in Murray for a fourth-straight year.
Stepping Up Their Game
Since the arrival of the OVC portion of the schedule, both Alexis Burpo and Laci Hawthorne have significantly increased the production on the court. In the non-conference segment, Burpo averaged 7.0 points and 6.5 rebounds, while Hawthorne averaged 8.6 points and 6.9 rebounds. However, in OVC play, Burpo has averaged 12.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, while Hawthorne has averaged 9.8 points and 9.9 rebounds, per game.
