Jakob Milani
Staff Writer
In their first conference game of the season, the Murray State Racers lost a close contest to the Austin Peay State University Lady Govs by a score of 64-60.
The deciding factor of the game was the 26 turnovers and 25 personal fouls from the Racers. Austin Peay had 21 points off of turnovers in the game thanks to the amount of turnovers from Murray State.
The first quarter was low scoring as neither team could knock down many shots. Murray State was 5-12 from the field in the quarter, while Austin Peay was 4-17. However, the Racers were 3-3 from three point range while Austin Peay was just 1-7.
Austin Peay dominated the offensive boards in the first quarter, grabbing six to Murray State’s one. Despite the overwhelming difference in offensive rebounds, Murray State still ended the quarter on top 14-9.
In the second quarter, Murray State shot 5-12 from the field and held Austin Peay to a two minute 42 second scoring drought starting at 7:59.
The Lady Govs scored 18 points in the second quarter and managed to hold Murray State to a scoring drought of 2 minutes and 12 seconds, starting at 7:15. Austin Peay took a 23-22 lead late in the quarter and made their last four shot attempts, ending the quarter with a 27-26 lead.
At halftime, the Racers were led in scoring by junior guard Lex Mayes, who had eight points. Junior guard Macey Turley had seven points, shooting 3-4 from the field. Freshman forward Katelyn Young had six points and five rebounds in the half.
Murray State struggled to hold onto the ball in the third quarter, turning the ball over a total of 11 times in the quarter, the same amount as they had at the half. The Racers shot 5-8 from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds compared to Austin Peay’s five rebounds.
The Lady Govs were not able to capitalize on the turnovers by Murray State, shooting just 2-16 from the field. Austin Peay was held scoreless for three minutes and six seconds, starting at the 6:48 mark. The Racers managed to hold their lead and ended the quarter leading 37-40.
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, and Austin Peay took the advantage early, going up 47-41 with 7:51 left to play. The Racers closed the gap later in the quarter, when Turley made crucial free throws that tied the game at 51.
Murray State’s defense managed to keep up with the Lady Govs, thanks to some forced turnovers from freshman guard Bria Sanders-Woods. It wasn’t enough, though, as Austin Peay pulled it out in the end, winning by a score of 64-60.
Murray State finished the game with three players in double digits. Turley had 15 points in the game, as well as four rebounds and three assists. Young also finished with 15 points, shooting 4-5 from the field and 7-9 from the free throw line. She also grabbed eight rebounds. Mayes finished with 12 points, as well as a rebound and an assist.
Austin Peay had two players off the bench with double digits. Sophomore guard Ella Booker finished with 15 points, shooting 7-8 from the free throw line and she had four assists. Sophomore forward D’Shara Booker had 14 points shooting 5-10 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line. She also had six rebounds.
Sanders-Woods finished the game with nine points and one rebound, shooting 3-5 from the field and 1-1 from three point range. After the game, she talked about her gameplan in the fourth quarter.
“I was really just trying to get stops, trying to get the ball back so we could at least get up or tie the game,” Sanders-Woods said. “I know my role is really just for defense and I take that role fully, so I tried to get my team back in the game.”
Head Coach Rechelle Turner spoke after the game about how the game turned out for the Racers.
“You turn the ball over twenty-six times, send them to the foul line thirty times, you’re not going to win,” Turner said. “We took the script and did exactly the opposite of what we had to do to win this game. It’s very disappointing. We’ve taught this team all year long that we want to be different. We want to be different then the other teams that I have coached. We want to do things differently and we want to know what we have to do going into the game and we want to better perform that. Learn, prepare, perform. And we didn’t do that.”
The Racers outrebounded the Lady Govs by a slim margin, pulling down 33 rebounds to Austin Peay’s 31. The Lady Govs made their efforts on defense known, however, with 17 steals in the game, compared to the Racers’ six steals.
Murray State drops its first conference game of the season and now sits at a 3-3 record. The Racers will be on the road for their next game on Wednesday, Dec. 30, when they play at Belmont University. That game will start at noon.
