Jakob Milani
Staff Writer
A late burst of energy from Belmont proved to be too much for the Murray State women’s basketball team to handle as the Racers dropped their last game of the season to the Bruins by a score of 67-49.
Despite an impressive first half, the Racers couldn’t keep up with the Bruins, who scored 26 points in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
The Bruins got the opening quarter going by making the first basket of the game while the Racers missed their first four shots. The Racers’ offense didn’t miss for much longer and made their next five shots, going on an 8-0 run over the next 3:30. Belmont finally broke that run with a layup from freshman forward Madison Bartley, the Bruins weren’t able to cut into the Racers’ lead much. At the end of the first, the Racers led the Bruins 18-11.
The Racers extended their lead to 20-11 early in the second quarter, but the Bruins quickly shifted the momentum of the game, going on an 11-0 run to take a 22-20 lead with 3:01 remaining. The Racers answered immediately with a 6-0 run of their own, taking a 26-22 lead with 1:48 left in the quarter. The Bruins made sure they had the lead going into half by scoring the final five points in the quarter to take a 27-26 lead at the half.
The stats looked similar for both teams at halftime, with the main differences being assists and three-pointers. The Bruins shot 5-14 from three-point range in the first half compared to the Racers’ 2-7 shooting from three-point range. The Bruins also had a large lead on assists with nine assists compared to the Racers’ five.
In the third quarter, the Bruins held down their lead, allowing 11 points from the Racers in the quarter. The Racers shot just 3-12 from the field and didn’t make a shot from 8:35 to 2:05. The Bruins made six of their 20 shot attempts in the quarter, scoring 14 points in the third. Belmont’s fouls were its big issue, sending the Racers to the line four times, where they made all four shots. After the third quarter, the Bruins led the Racers 41-37.
The fourth quarter was a blowout by the Bruins, who scored 26 points in the quarter. The Bruins at one point went on a 12-0 run, extending their lead to 19 points. The Racers scored 12 in the quarter on 4-12 shooting from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line. The Bruins outrebounded the Racers in the quarter with 10 boards, four of which were offensive rebounds leading to nine second chance points. The Bruins defeated the Racers in the OVC Tournament semifinals by a score of 67-49.
Junior guard Macey Turley and freshman forward Katelyn Young each scored 11 points in the game. Turley led the Racers with eight rebounds but turned the ball over nine times. Young grabbed two rebounds and had three assists. Junior forward Alexis Burpo had nine points in the game and grabbed four rebounds.
Freshman guard Destinee Wells, winner of the OVC Freshman of the Year award, led the way for the Bruins with 14 points on 5-11 shooting from the field and seven assists in the game. Freshman guard Tuti Jones scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds, shooting 5-13 from the field and 3-10 from three-point range. Junior forward Conley Chinn finished with 10 points and nine rebounds while shooting 5-15 from the field.
Belmont had 16 second-chance points in the game, all of which came in the second half. The Racers turned the ball over 14 times, leading to 19 points off turnovers from the Bruins.
Freshman forward Hannah McKay finished with four points and seven rebounds in the game. She talked postgame about the team’s performance in the game and how fatigue led to a tough second half.
“I know we were all tired, but that didn’t matter,” McKay said. “We still had to come out and do everything we could. It’s just a learning experience for next year…we left some of their shooters open and that was part of the reason they got up. We weren’t supposed to let them hit threes.”
Head Coach Rechelle Turner spoke about the loss and gave a lot of credit to Belmont, saying they are a very difficult team to guard in the postseason.
“Hats off to the Belmont women’s basketball team,” Turner said. “They’re just a great basketball team. They’ve got so many weapons and they are very difficult to guard. For them to be off as long as they were and come back and play as well as they did down the stretch says a lot about their program.”
Turner also talked about the season as a whole, saying the team took a lot away from this season and she hopes they will be even better next year.
“The steps that this program took this year is important to me,” Turner said. “I want them to remember this feeling of disappointment, but also what it’s like to know that we have figured out what it takes to win games. We’ve got a lot of kids coming back. We’ve just gotta focus on getting better each and every day.”
The Racers finish the season with a record of 16-11 including playoffs. Though the team fell short this season, the future is bright for the Murray State women’s basketball program.
