Josh Embry
Contributing Writer
Trailing by 10 points with four minutes left in regulation, Murray State women’s basketball was able to force overtime and claw out a 92-87 victory over Eastern Illinois at the CFSB Center.
After a dominant win in their last contest where they reached the century point mark, the Racers had to work a whole lot harder for this game. Head Coach Rechelle Turner said this win was a result of the team’s effort and resilience.
“I think a win like this could be a program-changer for us,” Turner said. “We got down 10 at one point and it looked bleak but they have no quit in them. That is what I have said all along. The bottom line is when you have the heart the size of these kids, it goes a long way. We just want to make sure that we understand the effort it took to win this game because we have to continue to play with that effort.”
Both the first and last quarters were fairly even, but the second and third quarters were lopsided affairs where the Racers dominated one quarter and EIU the other.
Murray State trailed 74-64 with four minutes to go, so the Racers utilized their full-court press to speed up the Cougars and it worked well, as EIU turned the ball over twice, leading to points for the Racers.
With sophomore guard Macey Turley, junior forward Laci Hawthorne and freshman forward Macie Gibson all with four fouls late in the fourth quarter, Turner wanted her team to be selective in their fouls but wanted them to stay aggressive as well.
“We tell them, ‘We still have to be aggressive,’” Turner said. “We had to full-court press to get back in the game. I just said, ‘You have to be selective [on your fouls].’”
Murray State clawed back into the game to trail 78-75 with 18 seconds left in regulation. The Cougars missed on their next possession and Hawthorne grabbed the rebound, tossed it to Turley who pushed the ball up and saw Gibson on the left wing.
Gibson flared behind her defender and Turley lofted the ball perfectly to Gibson and she drilled the triple—her first points of the second half—to tie the game at 78. EIU missed their shot on the ensuing possession, and the game went to overtime.
Turner was confident enough in her players to trust them to do whatever it took to come away with the points during that possession.
“I was not going to call a timeout,” Turner said. “I was not going to let them get their defense set. Our kids know in those situations that we are going to get it [and] we are going to go. We are going to drive, draw defense and find the shooter because we have kids on the floor that can make that shot.”
The Racers were able to seal the game in overtime, as they went 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. Hawthorne’s eight points in the period locked up the win, as they went on to win by five points.
Turner was extremely impressed with Hawthorne’s performance (20 points and 13 rebounds), especially her tenacity when fighting for offensive rebounds.
“I thought this might have been, overall, Laci’s best game as a Racer,” Turner said. “I told her all week, ‘You can do a lot of damage on the offensive glass if you will just be relentless,’ and she was and she listened and she did that.”
Along with Hawthorne, four other Racers scored in double figures. Sophomore forward Alexis Burpo led all Murray State players with a career-high 21 points. If that was not impressive, she also finished with a near triple-double, with 10 rebounds and seven assists. In her last six games, she has averaged 14.8 ppg, 9 rpg and 5.5 apg.
“I told you, when she consistently does this then we can start talking about her being an OVC-type player,” Turner said. “Well, she is consistently starting to do it. If anybody has taken a huge jump from their freshman to sophomore year, it has been her. It took her a little bit longer than the rest of them to get acclimated to the speed and acclimated to how to use her athleticism in these situations. She just continues to shine each and every night.”
Sophomore guard Lex Mayes continued her hot shooting from behind the arc, shooting 4-for-10 and 7-for-15 overall to finish with 20 points as well as five assists. She also clamped down EIU’s top scorer, junior guard Karle Pace, who was limited to only 10 points (3-10 FG).
“It is really hard for me to take Lex off the floor because she guards the best player on the other team and I thought she did an outstanding job on Pace tonight,” Turner said. “I do not think she necessarily gets as much credit as she deserves defensively.”
Sophomore guard Raegan Blackburn provided a spark off the bench in the second quarter by hitting two three-pointers. By the night’s end, she scored 11 points in only 20 minutes.
“I thought Raegan’s play, when we needed her in that stretch, was huge,” Turner said. “She made some big shots as well.”
Turley, who led the team prior to tonight’s game with 17.8 ppg, was limited to only six points on 1-for-10 shooting. Turner said having other players step up when Turley is stifled offensively shows how other players have the ability to prove what they can do to help the team succeed.
“This game should be a confidence booster to know that she does not have to do everything for us to be successful and that is what we have been telling them all along,” Turner said. “Everybody on the floor is capable of doing big things.”
Despite the win, Turner commended the Cougars’ players and their disciplined fundamentals and skills.
“They have kids that make plays [and] they have kids that make big shots,” Turner said. “They may be not as athletic as some other teams but they play so hard and they are so well-coached and they are so fundamental[ly sound] that it seems that they are always in the right spot.”
EIU had three other players along with Pace score in double figures, with freshman guard Lariah Washington scoring a career-high 35 points. Sophomore forward Abby Wahl contributed 17 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Jordyn Hughes added 11 points.
Turner said this win was important to try to move up the OVC rankings and to hopefully be able to participate in the OVC tournament come March.
“We knew going into the night this was a game that could help us claw our way back into the rankings,” Turner said. “Our goal is to get ourselves to the tournament because I think this team is going to continue to get better as we go through [the season].”
The Racers will look to earn their third consecutive win when they take on SIUE at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1, at the CFSB Center.
