Nick Kendall
Staff Writer
Trailing for most of the game, a 25-point fourth quarter outburst gave the Murray State women’s basketball team the 10-point win against the Lipscomb University Bisons.
The Racers had a little trouble early on with scoring, but managed to keep up as they only trailed by eight at the end of the first quarter.
Murray State actually outscored the Bisons 13-11 in the second, but still found themselves down by six at the half.
Frustrated with her team’s performance, Head Coach Rechelle Turner had some very strong words for her team in the locker room.
“You’re gonna get beat by 20 or you’re gonna win this game,” Turner said. “You’re gonna have to step up and start making plays defensively or they’re just gonna go ahead and blow you out of the gym.”
The Racers took Turner’s words to heart and continued to push through the third as they were able to cut the lead down to three before Lipscomb’s sophomore guard Jane Deason ended the half with a last-second three-pointer.
However, great team play leading to easy buckets and solid ball handling helped Murray State dominate the fourth quarter. The Racers scored the first 16 points in the final quarter and only turned the ball over three times in the second half compared to 12 in the first half; that effort won the game for the team.
Sophomore guard Macey Turley led the way for the Racers with a 20-point, five-assist and six-rebound performance. Sophomore guard Lex Mayes went three-for-six from behind the arc, finishing the game with 13 points.
Redshirt freshman forward Macie Gibson finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, earning her first career double-double.
Turner is impressed with Gibson’s growth throughout the early stages of this season after her ACL injury last season.
“[Gibson]’s slowly starting to get it,” Turner said. “I felt like that each and every game out she’s given us a little bit more.”
With the game’s result still up in the air, Turner gave her team an ultimatum: win the game or practice is going to be rough.
“In the fourth quarter, I challenged them,” Turner said. “‘I said ‘here is the game. By the five-minute mark you better be ahead of this team.’ We buckled down, we got stops, we made plays and Lex came up with two huge threes back-to-back.”
With the victory the Racers are now 2-2—both being road wins—and will head home for a matchup against Division II competitor Christian Brothers University on Friday, Nov. 22, at 6 p.m. at the CFSB Center.
