Murray State
11-9,8-7OVC
Southeast Missouri
12-8,10-5OVC
Racers Hold On For Win Over SEMO
2/12/2021 5:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MSU survives 7-plus minute game-ending drought to pick up third straight win
The Murray State women's basketball team picked up its third consecutive win Friday with an 81-79 win over Southeast Missouri at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers started the game hot, scoring 28 points in the first quarter, a season-high for the opening stanza. However, in the second quarter, SEMO began to whittle away at MSU's 15-point lead with an 11-0 run in the middle of the quarter, cutting the deficit to just four in the process. However, the Racers were able to battle back in the last part of the second and push the lead back out to 13 with a 15-6 run of their own.
In the second half, the Racers and Redhawks stayed mostly even with Murray State taking an 11-point lead to the fourth quarter. However, in the fourth, it nearly all went south for the Racers as they did not score a field goal over the final 7:02 of the game. Despite the drought, MSU took care of business at the free throw line by going 10-for-10 in the final seven minutes of the game to hang on for the two-point win.
After scoring 80-plus points in four out of five non-conference games, on Saturday the Racers scored 80-plus for the first time this year against a conference opponent. Murray State is now 4-1 on the season when it scores 80-plus points and 9-3 on the year when scoring 70 or more points.
Macey Turley led all scorers in the game with 28 points which included a 4-for-8 clip from 3-point range and a 12-for-13 outing at the free throw line. Success against the Redhawks is nothing new for Turley, as she has averaged 22.0 points per game against SEMO which is 6.7 points better than her current career average of 15.3 points per game
Hannah McKay followed Turley with 13 points, while Lex Mayes and Katelyn Young rounded out the four Racers in double digits with 12 and 10, respectively. Laci Hawthorne led Murray State on the boards in the game with a season-high 13 rebounds, while Young and MacKay added six each.
The win moved the Racers to 11-9 overall this season and 8-7 in OVC play. Heading into the final five games of the season, MSU sits at seventh in the conference standing with three of the five game coming against teams above them in the standings.
On Saturday, the Racers welcome league-leader UT Martin to the CFSB Center for the second game of their final four consecutive home games this season. Tip-off is scheduled for at 4:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+, 104.5 WBZB FM and the Zeno Radio app.
