Jakob Milani
Staff Writer
A late game comeback was not enough for the Redhawks as the Murray State women’s basketball team defeated the SEMO Redhawks by a score of 81-79.
After the game was postponed by a day because of an ice storm that hit Murray, it was rescheduled to 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 12. The delay proved to be ineffective to the Racers’ performance, as they were up by as much as 21 points in the game.
The Racers took off in the first quarter, scoring at will against the SEMO defense. The Racers went on a 10-0 run from 4:57 to 2:10. Murray State shot 10-18 from the field in the quarter while the Redhawks shot 7-18 from the field. The Racers ended the quarter up 13, leading the Redhawks 28-15 heading into the second quarter.
The Racers extended their lead to 15 early in the second quarter, but the Redhawks soon went on an 11-0 run, narrowing the Racers’ lead to just four points. Murray State answered with a 9-0 run of its own and extended the lead back to 13. Both teams traded baskets at the end of the quarter with both teams scoring on each of their last three possessions. The Racers led the Redhawks 47-34 going into halftime.
At halftime, the Racers led in field goal percentage, shooting 18-34 from the field compared to the Redhawks’ 15-32 shooting. The Racers also led the Redhawks in total rebounds with 20 to SEMO’s 14.
Murray State extended its lead early in the third quarter, going up by as much as 21 points with 7:40 left. SEMO dug into that lead later in the quarter when the Redhawks went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead down to 10. After some traded baskets between both teams, the Racers led the Redhakws at the end of the third quarter by a score of 67-56.
Despite leading by as much as 21 points in the game, the Racers struggled in the fourth quarter. The Racers scored 14 in the quarter compared to the Redhawks’ 23 points.
Freshman forward Katelyn Young went down early in the quarter with an ankle injury, causing the Racers to falter a bit in the quarter.
The Redhawks didn’t allow a field goal in the last seven minutes of the game and slowly chipped away at the Racers’ lead, eventually cutting the lead down to just two points with 57 seconds left.
The Racers held their ground though and closed the game out with a pair of free throws from junior guard Lex Mayes. The Racers walked away victorious, winning 81-79.
Sophomore guard Roshala Scott led the way for the Redhawks with 22 points on 10-14 shooting from the field. Scott also had five rebounds and three assists. Senior guard Tesis Thompson scored 21 points on 7-21 shooting from the field and 6-6 shooting from the free throw line. She grabbed 11 rebounds and had four assists as well.
Junior guard Macey Turley led the Racers to victory with 28 points on 6-17 shooting from the field, 4-8 shooting from three-point range and 12-13 shooting from the free throw line. Freshman forward Hannah McKay scored 13 points in the game on 5-9 shooting from the field and 2-2 shooting from the free throw line.
Senior forward Laci Hawthorne led all players with 13 rebounds in the game. She talked postgame about how the team held their lead late in the game despite the comeback from SEMO.
“I think it just shows our growth and improvement,” Hawthorne said. “I think we are playing our best basketball right now this season and I think it just shows that. We’ve just been working extra hard, especially on our shooting and I think that it’s showing, which is a good thing.”
Hawthorne said the team’s confidence after their third straight win is pretty high right now.
“We just have to remain focussed,” Hawthorne said. “Just focus on the task at hand and not get distracted by anything that’s going on around us. I think that our rebounding was a huge thing for us. We need to continue shooting at a high percentage. I feel like that will help us in the run.”
Freshman guard Bria Sanders-Woods finished with seven points on 2-7 shooting from the field and 3-5 shooting from the free throw line. She said how the team held off the SEMO comeback late in the game shows the team can go through anything in order to win.
“It just shows that we can come through adversity and come together,” Sanders-Woods said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game and we knew they were going to go on a stretch. We just came together and we got a good win out of it.”
Sanders-Woods said the team has grown throughout the season and this growth has affected their play as a whole.
“I think in the beginning we were just getting to know each other so we were just out there,” Sanders-Woods said. “Now we’ve come closer and learned each other’s game out there. We just feed off each other’s energy and that’s what keeps us going.”
Head Coach Rechelle Turner gave credit to both the offensive and defensive play in the game by the team.
“I think that the first half and maybe even the first five minutes of the third quarter was some of the best offensive basketball we’ve played all season,” Turner said. “Defensively, we were pretty good as well. We had only given up four offensive boards at half, which was a huge key for this game.”
Turner also said the team has grown since the start of the season, mentioning the team’s high confidence level in recent games as well.
“I think the young kids have grown up a lot in the last couple of weeks,” Turner said. “I think the team’s confidence is high in themselves and each other. Our coaching staff has done a really good job of continuing to pump that confidence in.”
Murray State improves to 11-9 on the season and 8-7 in conference play after the win over SEMO. The Racers look to extend their win streak as they continue their four-game homestand at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13, when they take on UT Martin.
