Racers Win Thriller at TTU; Clinch 6th Seed

Saturday, February 27

Cookeville, Tenn.

5 p.m.

Murray State

15-10,12-8OVC

Tennessee Tech

14-9,12-8OVC

Murray St.

Tennessee Tech

2/27/2021 7:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

MSU will play SEMO at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in OVC tournament

A Manna Mensah free throw with 2.4 seconds left was enough to give the Murray State women's basketball team a 68-67 win over Tennessee Tech Saturday at the Hoooper Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tennessee. The win was just the sixth in 45 tries for the Racers in Cookeville and head coach Rechelle Turner has now been a part of three of them; two as a coach and one as a player.

The game was back and forth from the get go with a total of 11 lead changes in the game and a total of nine ties. Neither team was able to amass more than a seven-point lead at any point Saturday, with Murray State's largest lead being just five.

After Murray State led by one at the end of the third, Tennessee Tech took the lead back with 8:54 to play on a pair of free throws by Jada Guinn. The Golden Eagles would hold on to that lead for the next eight-plus minutes until Katelyn Young tied the game at 67 on a put-back layup off her own miss.

Following Young's basket, the Golden Eagles went down the court, only to come up empty after a missed shot by Jordan Brock. The miss was a rare one for Brock in the game as she went 13-for-25 from the floor and 4-for-6 from 3-point range to lead all scorers with 30 points.

After the miss by Brock, Young grabbed the rebound, giving her team not only the ball, but a chance at the win. Over the next 27 seconds with a tie game, the Golden Eagles committed two fouls with the last one coming on a layup attempt by Mensah with 2.4 seconds to play. Mensah missed the first, however the second on rattled in to give MSU a one-point lead. On the final play of the game, Anna Jones missed the mark on a 3-pointer as time expired, allowing MSU to hang on for the win.

With the win, Murray State finished the 2020-21 regular-season at 15-10 overall and 12-8 in OVC play. The win also moved the Racers up one spot to the sixth-seed for next week's OVC tournament in Evansville, Indiana. Up first for MSU, will be a team it split with in the regular-season, third-seeded Southeast Missouri. Tip-off from the Ford Center Thursday is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.