Nick Kendall
Staff Writer
Tied at 59 with four seconds, sophomore forward Alexis Burpo snagged a loose ball, taking off to the other end to find sophomore guard Macey Turley for a game-winning layup with one second left to claim a 61-59 win.
The win extends the Murray State women’s basketball team’s winning streak to four games, moving its record to 5-2.
After a strong first quarter performance where they outscored the Purple Aces 22-11, the Racers went flat in the second and third quarters but never lost the lead.
The Racers dominated the game for the most part. Even with a less than ideal shooting night— going 19-for-60— the team only trailed for 56 seconds and their largest deficit was only two points.
The lead changed multiple times in the fourth quarter. Evansville took the lead with 43 seconds left to go, but Murray State went down the court on the next possession and redshirt freshman forward Macie Gibson grabbed the rebound and got the putback for the tie.
Evansville’s sophomore guard Anna Newman looked to drive and score the game-winner, but sophomore guard Macey Turley knocked the ball out of her hand and into the hands of Racer sophomore forward Alexis Burpo and the rest was history..
Burpo rushed down the court and found Turley who swerved past the defense and banked in the game-winning layup for the Racers.
Having coached them for multiple years at Murray High School before coming to Murray State, Head Coach Rechelle Turner has been used to good plays like that from Turley and Burpo for years.
“I’ve seen Burpo and Turley make that play on the fast break a thousand times,” Turner said. “As soon as I saw that Burpo had the ball in her hand and I saw Macy up front, I thought ‘good things are going to happen here.’”
Turley finished the game with 19 points, six assists and six rebounds, while Burpo scored eight points, along with four assists and 10 rebounds.
The Racers are now 5-2 on the season and Turner sees more great things to come from her team.
“‘We over me’ has never been more powerful than it is right now,” Turner said. “I’m just super proud of the effort and the attitude and the mindset, and the confidence should continue to grow with this team.”
Murray State will head back home for a showdown against Indiana State University on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 5 p.m. at the CFSB Center.
