Gage Johnson
Sports Editor
After suffering a season-opening loss to the University of Louisville, the Murray State women’s basketball team bounced back for its first win of the season against Mississippi Valley State University.
The Racers came away with a 72-66 victory, in large part thanks to three-point shooting and a solid defensive effort from the young squad.
The two teams went toe-to-toe coming out of the gates, with the lead changing five times in the first quarter of play. Murray State was able to take a 24-15 lead into the second quarter with a 7-1 run to close out the first ten minutes of the game.
The back-and-forth affair continued for much of the second quarter. Despite being outscored by the Devilettes 17-10, a triple from sophomore forward Alexis Burpo and a defensive stop sent Murray State into the locker room holding a 34-32 lead.
Mississippi Valley went on a 7-0 run to begin the second half, taking a 39-32 lead. However, the Racers came right back with a 9-1 run of their own, regaining the lead at 45-40. Murray State didn’t lose the lead again.
The Devillettes were able to cut the game to within six in the fourth quarter, but junior forward Laci Hawthorne’s personal 8-0 run was too much for them to overcome, letting the Racers walk away with their first win of the season at 72-66.
Along with her 18 points on 9-for-15 shooting, Hawthorne was a magnet on the offensive glass, grabbing five of her 12 rebounds.
While Hawthorne may have made it look easy when it came to rebounding on Wednesday, Nov. 14, the junior forward said it took a lot of effort to make it happen.
“They were really tough,” Hawthorne said. “They didn’t give us anything easy, so we had to work for everything we got in the game.”
Sophomore guard Macey Turley also poured in 18 points to go along with seven assists and two steals. While Turley may not have had the most efficient night from the field (5-for-16), she led the team in assists while playing virtually the entire game.
“She didn’t make a whole lot of shots, but she ran the entire game and that’s what we expect of her,” Head Coach Rechelle Turner said. “She played about 35 minutes which is more than I want, but in games like this she’s got to be on the floor. [I’m] just really proud of how she runs this basketball team.”
While the Racers came away with the win, the rims were unforgiving against the Devilettes. Murray State shot 37% from the field, only converting 11-for-29 from beyond the arc and 9-for-17 from the line.
Despite their struggles, Turner said that it showed how tough her team is by being able to grab the road victory.
“Being able to win on the road—that’s huge,” Turner said. “It’s going to be huge come OVC time. Being able to shoot these percentages and still find a way to win, that says a lot about the perseverance and guts of this team.”
Turner was proud of her player’s performance, knowing very well that it could’ve been easy to let this one slip away with such struggles offensively.
“I really think this is a game last year’s team would’ve lost,” Turner said. “We didn’t seem to ever persevere and fight through, but this year’s team showed some guts and some perseverance.”
Murray State won’t go far for its next matchup, as they are set to take on No. 8 ranked Mississippi State University at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15, at the Humphrey Coliseum.
