Jakob Milani
Staff Writer
Second-half dominance provided the comeback needed for the Murray State women’s basketball team to defeat the Jacksonville State Gamecocks by a score of 78-75.
Junior guard Lex Mayes gave the Racers a boost with a three-pointer to start the game. The Racers got out to a 9-5 lead over the Gamecocks early on, but they allowed the Gamecocks to go on an 11-0 run to take a 16-9 lead with 3:46 left in the quarter. The Racers held on at the end of the quarter but still trailed the Gamecocks 21-15 heading into the second quarter.
The offense slowed for both teams in the second quarter as neither team scored above 15 points. The Racers shot 4-14 from the field in the quarter and 2-2 from the free throw line, scoring a total of 10 points. The Gamecocks shot 6-17 from the field and 2-6 from three-point range in the quarter, scoring 14 points. Despite the low scoring from both teams, the Gamecocks led the Racers at halftime by a score of 35-25.
The Gamecocks outrebounded the Racers 26-19 and outshot the Racers with 15-37 shooting from the field compared to the Racers 9-31 shooting. The Gamecocks also scored more points inside, scoring 22 points in the paint while the Racers scored just nine points in the paint.
After halftime, the Racers turned the tables and took over. The Racers scored 26 points in the third quarter, shooting 9-13 from the field and 7-7 from the free throw line. Junior forward Alexis Burpo led the Racers with 10 points in the quarter, shooting 4-4 from the field, 1-1 from three-point range and 1-1 from the free throw line.
The Gamecocks still managed to hold their lead, scoring 19 points on 7-20 shooting in the quarter. After three quarters, the Gamecocks led the Racers by a score of 54-51.
The Racers took over once again in the fourth quarter, going on two separate 7-0 runs and taking their first lead since the first quarter with 8:17 left in the game. Freshman forward Katelyn Young led the team with eight points in the quarter, shooting a perfect 3-3 from the field and 2-2 from three-point range.
Junior guard Macey Turley also had a large impact with seven points on 1-1 shooting from three-point range and 4-4 shooting from the free throw line. Despite an effort to come back later in the quarter, the Gamecocks fell to the Racers by a score of 78-75.
The Gamecocks had two players finish with double digit points. Junior guard Yamia Johnson finished with five rebounds and 20 points on 8-18 shooting from the field. Senior guard Taylor Hawks finished with 17 points on 5-15 shooting from the field, 6-9 shooting from the free throw line and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Young led the Racers with 20 points in the game, shooting 6-11 from the field, 2-2 shooting from three-point range and 6-6 shooting from the free throw line. She also grabbed seven rebounds. Turley finished with 17 points on 5-12 shooting from the field and 6-6 shooting from the free throw line. Turley also had seven assists. Burpo finished with 13 points on 5-7 shooting from the field and 2-3 shooting from the free throw line. Burpo grabbed a season-high of 11 rebounds as well.
Head Coach Rechelle Turner said the win was a big one for the Racers and she would put it high up on the list of program-defining victories.
“The thing that I love most about this bunch is that this group has love for each other and where the culture is at in this program is what makes me most proud,” Turner said. “Everybody just rallied together. I know they don’t have anything left in the tank, but that’s what this program has become… that’s what I’m most proud of.”
The win marks the 14th win of the season, the team’s first winning season since 2016-17 and Turner’s first winning season as Murray State’s head coach. Turner said the team is different from teams of the past and they are in a great spot with the talent they have.
“My staff and I worked really hard to put this roster together,” Turner said. “These kids have come through and some of them have to the point we wanted them to be at quicker than we expected, which is a credit to them. They work hard, they listen. The reason this team has a winning season is because of the culture and the love that they have for each other and the willingness to fight for each other every day. It’s awful hard to beat a team when nobody on the team cares who gets the glory and that’s what this team is about.”
The Racers now sit at 14-10 in the season and 11-8 in the conference, making them seventh in the OVC Conference standings. The Racers play their final game of the regular season at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, at Tennessee Tech.
