Jakob Milani
Staff Writer
Freshman forward Katelyn Young and junior guard Macey Turley came up big yet again as the Murray State women’s basketball team defeated the Eastern Illinois Panthers by a score of 69-52.
The win comes on the Racers’ Breast Cancer Awareness Night. The Racers wore pink accessories such as headbands, socks, and bracelets. The Panthers players wore alternate jerseys with pink numbers and lettering to show their support as well.
The Racers kicked off the special night by taking a quick 6-0 lead over the Panthers just 1:24 into the first quarter. The Panthers quickly brought the game back within one at 6-5, but the Racers didn’t let that stand and extended their lead to 10-5. The Panthers came back with a 6-0 run late in the quarter to take a 19-18 lead with one minute left. However, the Racers made one last shot to take a 20-19 lead, and held that lead through the end of the quarter.
The Panthers quickly got to work taking the lead back in the second quarter, scoring the first five points and taking a 24-20 lead. However, the Racers took the lead right back with back-to-back three-pointers to take a 26-24 lead. The Panthers didn’t get the lead back for the rest of the quarter but traded multiple baskets with the Racers in that time. At the half, the Racers led the Panthers 34-30.
At halftime, Young already had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Racers in 19 minutes of play. The Racers outrebounded the Panthers in the first half by a large margin, grabbing 24 rebounds to the Panthers’ 13 rebounds. The Racers scored 11 second chance points and 18 points in the paint, while the Panthers scored no second chance points and eight points in the paint.
The Racers started the second half on fire, going on an 8-0 run over the first 2:30 of the third quarter, giving them a 42-30 lead. The Racers led the rest of the quarter by at least 10 points, not giving the Panthers any room for offense. The Racers scored 17 points in the third quarter and allowed the Panthers to score just five points with two of those coming from free throws in the last three seconds. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Racers led the Panthers 51-35.
In the fourth quarter, the Racers moved to secure the win. Despite neither team going on a long run, both teams scored high in points with the Racers scoring 18 points and the Panthers scoring 17 points. When time expired on the clock, the Racers were victorious, defeating the Panthers 69-52.
The Panthers finished with two players in double digit points. Sophomore guard Lariah Washington led the team with 13 points on 4-15 shooting from the field and 4-4 shooting from the free-throw line. Junior guard Jordyn Hughes finished with 11 points, shooting 4-10 from the field and 3-5 from three point range.
Junior guard Macey Turley finished with 19 points for the Racers, shooting 6-16 from the field and 5-6 from the free throw line. She also grabbed three rebounds and had two assists. Freshman guard Bria Sanders-Woods finished with eight points on 4-8 shooting and had two assists of her own.
Senior forward Laci Hawthorne finished the game with six points on 3-6 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. She spoke postgame about how the team plans to keep their momentum going in the final stretch of the season, saying the team is playing their best basketball so far this season.
“We’re just gonna continue to work hard in practice and just keep it going like that,” Hawthorne said. “I think our confidence is really high right now because of all of those wins. I think we feel ourselves improving every single day and I feel like we’re gelling better at the right time.”
Young finished the game with 20 points and 13 rebounds, marking her seventh double-double this season. She spoke about the team’s recent success, giving credit to the team’s chemistry right now.
“I think it’s like what Laci said, we’re gelling together,” Young said. “We know everybody’s game and how they are playing. They are able to pass to me, find open shots for them. I think that’s really helping.”
Young also talked about what the team has to do to keep winning. She said the team just has to keep getting better.
“It’s really just the same, keep pushing in practice and keep getting better,” Young said. “We gotta keep getting each other better, working on the chemistry. That’s really helping. I think we are just playing our best basketball right now, which is good especially this late in the season.”
Hawthorne also spoke about Young’s play this season, giving major props to the freshman and saying nobody can stop her on the court.
“She’s a beast,” Hawthorne said. “That is just that. Nobody can stop her. I haven’t seen it. We’ve known this all along but we’re just glad you’re starting to see it.”
Head Coach Rechelle Turner discussed postgame about how big of a win it was for the team. She said this was not only a huge win for the team, but a huge night for everyone as well.
“It was a really big win and a really big night,” Turner said. “To be able to talk to our women about breast cancer awareness and making sure that they understand the importance of what it means. So many people in our community have been affected by it… it was an important game for us, to be able to recognize that. For the kids to come out and play as hard and as well as we did at times I think really caps off the night for us.”
With the win, the Racers improve to 12-10 overall and 9-8 in conference play. Murray State’s next game is on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 4:30 p.m. when they take on SIUE in the final home game of the season.
