Jakob Milani
Sports Editor
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With the women’s basketball team’s 69-56 victory over UT Martin on Saturday, Feb. 19, Murray State became one of nine schools in the country with 20 wins this season in both men’s and women’s basketball.

Sophomore forward Katelyn Young continued her OVC Player of the Year campaign with a 22 point, 13 rebound performance in the Racers win over the Skyhawks.

The Racers were first to strike in the game with a quick layup from senior forward Alexis Burpo. Though graduate forward Holly Forbes made a jumper to tie the game, the Racers were able to counter with a 9-0 run that included a three-pointer from senior guard Lex Mayes and four points from sophomore forward Hannah McKay.

Forbes got a layup to fall and followed it up with a free throw, but the Racers lead continued to grow with back-to-back and-one plays from Young, putting the Racers up 17-5.

Freshman forward Ella Thompson managed to sneak in a three-pointer for the Skyhawks before Young dropped in two more layups for the Racers.

A three-pointer from sophomore guard Seygin Robins looked to give the Skyhawks life, but McKay buried a three-pointer from the wing to put the Racers up 24-11.

As the first quarter was coming to a close, junior guard Kyannah Grant made a three-pointer, cutting the Racers lead to nine points. At the end of the first quarter, the Racers led the Skyhawks 25-16.

The Skyhawks looked to dig into the Racers lead in the second quarter and started with a pair of free throws from freshman guard Shae Littleford. Mayes was quick to answer with a three on the other end to keep the Racers up by 10.

As the quarter continued on, the teams traded baskets with the Skyhawks only making progress with their three-pointers. A three from Robins cut the Racers lead to seven points, and later on, a layup from Littleford brought the Skyhawks within four points of the lead.

The Racers quickly extended their lead back to nine points with a pair of free throws from Young and a three from Mayes. As the clock was winding down, Grant and sophomore forward Raegan Johnson each got layups to fall, making the score 39-34 in favor of the Racers at halftime.

Young led the Racers into the locker room at halftime with 14 points and five rebounds. McKay and Mayes each had nine points, with McKay shooting 3-5 from the field and Mayes shooting a perfect 3-3 from the field.

Robins led the Skyhawks at halftime with eight points, followed by Littleford, Forbes, Grant and Thompson who all had five points. Grant led in assists with three, while Littleford led in rebounds with three.

Littleford got the second half started with a three in an attempt to give the Skyhawks some momentum. Though Burpo answered with a layup for the Racers, Johnson quickly countered with a layup of her own to cut the Racers lead to two points.

The Racers defense held strong for the rest of the quarter, allowing the offense to go on a 12-0 run over a 4:56 span in the quarter. The run saw layups from Burpo, McKay and Young as well as three-pointers from McKay and senior guard Macey Turley. 

Junior guard Paige Pipkin ended the run with a three-pointer, but Mayes answered with a three on the other end. Burpo ended the quarter off with a layup, and the Racers went into the final quarter with a 58-44 lead.

The Racers offensive momentum carried over into the fourth quarter with a layup from Young and a three-pointer from Turley to get the quarter started.

The lead was extended to a game-high 21 points with back-to-back layups from Young, making the score 67-46 with 7:57 left in the game.

Over the last 5:22 of the game, the Skyhawks went on a 10-2 run with shots falling from Forbes and Littleford. Freshman forward Jaidah Black got the last laugh with a layup as time expired, making the score 69-56 in favor of Murray State.

Young led the Racers with 22 points and 13 rebounds, marking her eighth double-double of the season. Mckay had 14 points and five rebounds on 5-10 shooting from the field. Mayes had 12 points on 4-5 shooting from three-point-range. Burpo had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Littleford and Forbes led the Skyhawks with nine points each. Robins and Johnson followed with eight points each. Robins and Grant led in assists with four each, while Pipkin grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Murray State improves to 12-4 in conference play and 20-7 overall. The women’s team will host Belmont on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 5 p.m., and then finish the season at SEMO on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m.