Jakob Milani
Sports Editor
[email protected]
The Murray State women’s basketball team followed up their close win against SIUE with a blowout win over Morehead State on Saturday, Jan. 29.
A spark from sophomore guard Bria Sanders-Woods provided the push for the Racers in the game.
Sanders-Woods, who missed part of the season with an ACL injury, said it felt nice to be on the floor again with her teammates.
“I know that right now, I just need to do what’s best for my team,” Sanders-Woods said. “Whatever role that is, I just want to play it so we can win at the end of the season.”
Sophomore forward Katelyn Young got the scoring started with a layup that was quickly answered with a three-pointer from graduate guard Terri Smith. That put the Eagles up 3-2 early on in the first quarter.
That was the only time the Eagles held the lead, though, as the Racers followed up the three-pointer with an 11-0 run. The run consisted of an and-one from Young, free throws from senior guard Macey Turley, a layup from senior guard Alexis Burpo and a layup from freshman forward Jaidah Black.
The Eagles closed the lead to five points with a layup from Smith and a three-pointer from freshman guard Morgan Browning, but a layup from black and free throws from Burpo put the lead back up to 10 points.
Smith made a three-pointer to try to put the momentum in favor of the Eagles, but senior guard Lex Mayes answered with her own three-pointer to end the first quarter. Heading into the second quarter, the Racers were up 21-11.
The Eagles come out strong in the second quarter with three-pointers from sophomore forward Jada Claude and graduate guard Tyler Moore. The Racers managed to hold them off and keep their lead intact with back-to-back layups from Young and another basket from Burpo.
The second quarter was a back-and-forth battle with the Racers trying to pull away and the Eagles trying to stay in the game. Three straight baskets from Claude wasn’t enough to bring the Eagles closer as Turley and Young answered with a pair of layups.
The Racers ended the second quarter on a 7-0 run, with a three-pointer from Sanders-Woods and a layup from sophomore forward Hannah McKay capping it off. As the teams went back to the locker rooms, the Racers led the Eagles 38-25.
Young led the Racers at halftime with 13 points on 5-7 shooting from the field. Burpo followed with six points and four rebounds. Black and Sanders-Woods each had five points, and McKay had seven rebounds.
The Eagles were led into halftime by Claude with nine points. Smith had eight points in the first half with two made three-pointers.
To start the second half, Young made a three-pointer and Turley made a quick layup that put the Racers up by 18 points. Even after a pair of free throws from Claude, the Racers continued to extend their lead to 20 points with a basket by Burpo and free throws from Sanders-Woods.
A layup from McKay began a 14-0 run for the Racers to close out the third quarter. A three pointer from Turley and layups from Black piled on as the Racers held the Eagles to just six points in the quarter. As the third quarter came to an end, the Racers were up 61-31.
The Racers’ run continued into the fourth quarter with a layup from Burpo and a pair of free throws from freshman guard Cayson Conner. Freshman forward Janay Rose ended the run with a layup and Smith followed it up with a three-pointer, but it was too late for the Eagles to make the comeback.
As the quarter went on, the Racers extended their lead to 32 points with a layup and free throws from junior forward Isabell West. Then, a jump shot from freshman guard Tekiya Howard put the Racers at 34.
After free throws from West and freshman guard Demia Bess, the Racers were up by 35 at the final buzzer. The Racers had defeated the Eagles by a score of 79-44.
Young led the Racers to victory with 16 points and five rebounds, shooting 6-9 from the field. Burpo finished with 10 points and six rebounds in the game.
The win clinches the Racers second straight-winning season, marking back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the 2008-09 seasons.
Head Coach Rochelle Turner said it’s something she’s been working toward since she took over as coach.
“There’s been a lot of players to come through this program since I got here that have helped build the foundation for this,” Turner said. “The first couple of years were tough trying to get everything established … so to see this team put everything together is a huge accomplishment.”
The Racers improve to 15-6 on the season and 7-3 in the conference. The team will travel to Austin Peay to take on the Governors on Thursday, Feb. 3, with tipoff set for 5 p.m.
