The women’s basketball team extended its losing streak to eight games Wednesday night as the women fell to the Eastern Illinois Panthers, 75-59. The Racers have not won a game since entering conference play Jan. 3.

Murray State trailed by a basket for the majority of the first half, entering the locker room down 33-31. In the first half, the Racers shot 44 percent from the field, their best percentage since their last win Dec. 30 over Brescia University.

The Racers took the lead as they re-entered the court in the second half before Eastern Illinois went on a 6-0 run and began to pull away.

The loss was their third in a week. The Racers fell 64-59 at home to Eastern Kentucky on Jan. 22 and 78-52 at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville on Saturday.

During the Eastern Kentucky matchup, the Racers made 31 free throws, tied for eighth on the all-time-best list. The lead changed five times and included five ties in the first half.

Eastern started the second half with a 7-0 run. Freshman guard Ke’Shunan James cut the score gap to just five points with 35 seconds left to play, but the Racers were unable to take the lead.

Senior forward Netanya Jackson tallied her third double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds.  Senior guard Keiona Kirby made a career-high 14 free throws, putting her third on the all-time list at Murray State.

The SIUE game featured the OVC’s best rebounding offense in Murray State, averaging 45.7 per game, while SIUE boasted the conference’s best rebounding defense with an average of 35.8 per game. The Cougars are now 7-1 in the conference.

The Racers tip off at 5 p.m. against UT Martin Saturday at the CFSB Center.

Staff Report