The Murray State women’s basketball team improved to a record of 3-2 on Tuesday in a 88-73 win over their former Ohio Valley Conference rival UT Martin. 

“We knew that they were not going to do anything that we wanted them to do,” Rechelle Turner, women’s basketball head coach, said in a postgame interview with Froggy 103.7. “They never got close to each other so we could double them, they played the middle third of the floor, they tried to get us to play at the pace they wanted to play.”

The Racers were in the driver’s seat, as they held onto the lead for the majority of the game. Murray State started out strong offensively, shooting 10-16 from the field in the first quarter. 

As the game went into the second quarter, the Racers led 29-15. The offensive production fell off a bit in the second quarter, as Murray State went 5-16 from the field. They scored 16 in the second quarter to go into halftime up 45-35. 

Murray State went 5-13 from the field in the third quarter and went into the fourth quarter ahead 60-47. They would go on to win the game 88-73 after going 10-20 from the field in the fourth quarter to add 28 more points. 

Senior forward Katelyn Young led the Racers in scoring and rebounding. She totaled 15 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocks on Tuesday. 

“She [Young] had two or three people every time she touched the basketball, but she just does such a good job at getting other people open,” Turner said. “Other people did a good job on making shots.”

Redshirt freshman guard Zoe Stewart went 6-12 from the field for 14 points, she had two rebounds as well. Junior guard Jenna Walker had 11 points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal. 

Junior forward Ava Learn had 10 points, six of which came from free throws. She had one rebound as well. Senior forward Hannah McKay scored 10 points, six of which came from free throws as well. Both Learn and McKay went 6-6 at the free throw line. 

Senior guard Bria Sanders-Woods totaled 10 points, three assists and a rebound. Junior guard Cayson Conner scored 11 points and had four rebounds, an assist and a steal. 

“When she’s [Conner] making shots, she’s an uber bonus,” Turner said. “Because she’s going to be everywhere she’s supposed to be, she’s going to play hard defensively, she’s going to get people in the right spot. For her to be able to score 11 points and grab four rebounds is huge for us.”

Murray State scored 27 points off of turnovers and 40 points off of the bench. The Racers weren’t afraid to let it fly from deep, as they converted on 11 of their 31 3-point shot attempts. 

The Racers travel to Evansville, Indiana to play the University of Southern Indiana to play the Screaming Eagles at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1. If you cannot make it to the game, you can watch it live on ESPN+.