After losing the first two conference games of the season, women’s basketball notched its first conference victory with a 76-68 defeat of rival Austin Peay State Saturday night.

In its two previous conference games, Murray State came up short due to its opponents’ late scoring runs.

“We had been in the other games for the most part, but it feels great to get that first conference win,” junior guard Keiona Kirby said.

The Racers’ game against Austin Peay was their first in a week after the campus lost power an hour before the team played Southeast Missouri State, forcing the teams to reschedule. Despite the large gap between games, the Racers showed no ill effects as they jumped out to the early 23-13 lead.

“I think we were really excited to play,” freshman point guard Janssen Starks said. “We came out with great energy and were able to get it back when our shots weren’t falling.”

While the Racers held a 14-point halftime lead, the Lady Govs rallied to within four points midway through the second half as the Racers struggled to shoot the basketball. With the game close, Murray State’s offense attacked the basket to spark a 7-0 run to push their lead to double digits. Austin Peay made a final charge, cutting the deficit to four once again in the final minute, but the Racers hit their free throws en route to their first conference win.

The Racers shot a season-high 35 free throws in the game, something Head Coach Rob Cross said was what gave Murray State the victory.

“In the second half we attacked and got to the free throw line,” Cross said. “We only shot four in the first half and shot 31 in the second half, and that was the difference in the ball game.”

Kirby led the Racers with 22 points and seven rebounds.

“Keiona Kirby does what she does scoring 20 points but I was pleased with her rebounding,” Cross said. “I thought that was a big difference in the game.”

Kirby’s streak of scoring double-digit points in every game this season finally came to an end Monday night, however, when Murray State lost 67-57 to Belmont; Kirby was pulled from the game with a knee injury after only 19 seconds.

With their main offensive threat sidelined, the Racers struggled and allowed Belmont to open the game on a 9-2 run.

“Certainly that affected us,” Cross said. “We were out of sorts offensively at the start of the game with seven turnovers in the first three minutes, but we can’t use that as an excuse.”

Murray State responded with a 23-6 run over the majority of the first half that pushed its lead to 11.

However, the Bruins cut the lead to six just before the half with a 3-pointer.

The Racers extended their lead to eight in the opening minutes of the final half, but Belmont scored six 3’s against the conference’s best 3-point defense to take a 51-47 lead.

Murray State got within one point as freshman guard Julia Fox scored a layup with two minutes remaining, but that was the Racers’ final basket as the Bruins went on a 9-0 run to close out the game.

“We played well enough to win but we just didn’t hit enough shots,” Cross said. “We had three or four critical defensive breakdowns that (Belmont) took advantage of.”

Murray State concludes its three-game road trip this weekend with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois.

The Racers play at 4 p.m. Saturday against the Cougars, then play the Panthers 7 p.m. Monday.

Story by Tom Via, Staff writer