Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
14-10,11-8OVC
Jacksonville State
14-8,11-7OVC
Huge Second Half Leads Racers Past JSU
2/25/2021 7:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MSU shot 70-percent from the floor in final two quarters
The Murray State women's basketball team handed Jacksonville State its first home loss of the season Thursday with a 78-75 win over the Gamecocks at Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Alabama.
The Racers had a monster second half in which they shot 70.8-percent (12-18) from the floor, went 6-for-9 (66.7%) from 3-point range and were a near perfect 13-for-15 from the free throw line. Murray State missed just three times from the floor over the final 14:30 of the game, which included a 9-for-10 stretch from the middle of the third to the middle of the fourth.
Jacksonville State actually led by as many as 12 points in the third quarter and held the lead for over 27 minutes of the contest. However, once the Racers took the lead with 8:17 to play, they never relinquished it. MSU went on to lead by as many as eight in the fourth and held a six-point lead with under a minute to play. Jacksonville State's Taylor Hawks cut the lead to two with a 3-pointer with eight-seconds to play, but it wasn't enough as the Racers held on for the win.
Katelyn Young led MSU in the game with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Macey Turley followed with 17 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Both Turley and Young went a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line on the night. Alexis Burpo notched her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Lex Mayes added 11 on 4-for-7 shooting including 3-for-6 from 3-point range.
On Saturday, the Racers will look to move up in the OVC standings one last time with their regular-season finale at Tennessee Tech. Tip-off is scheduled for at 5 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+, WBZB 104.5 FM and the Zeno Radio app.
