Murray State women’s basketball beat the Drake Bulldogs and Northern Iowa Panthers on their trip to Iowa in the middle of January. Both teams were in Murray, Kentucky, this past weekend for round two with the Racers at the CFSB Center.
Feb. 13 vs Drake
Eighty-six points wins a lot of basketball games, but unfortunately for Murray State’s women’s basketball team, it wasn’t enough.
The Racers hosted the Drake Bulldogs in their first home game since Jan. 26 and couldn’t slow the Bulldogs down as they lost 92-86 despite having four players score 15 or more points. This marked the second time this season that Murray State scored 85 or more points in a game. The Racers scored 85 points on Feb. 1 against Belmont and lost 96-89.
Senior forward Ava Learn led the charge for the Racers in the first half, scoring 15 points on 71% shooting from the field. However, Drake was hitting a lot of shots in the first half, shooting 51% from the field as a team and 50% from behind the three-point line. Sophomore guard Shannon Fornshell and senior forward Anna Miller led the Bulldogs with seven points each in the half.
Both teams continued to make shots in the second half. Six straight possessions ended in baskets between both teams, with the Drake lead sitting at nine with 5:42 left in the game. With 2:04 remaining and the Bulldog lead still at nine, the Racers went on a 6-0 run to cut Drake’s lead to three. Drake answered with a 4-0 run of their own to close the game out.
Graduate forward Katelyn Young led the Racers with a 27-point and 12-rebound double-double. Learn finished the game with a new career-high of 22 points, along with seven rebounds and four blocks. Sophomore guard Halli Poock scored 19 points, 15 of those came from the three-point line. Sophomore guard Haven Ford also finished with a double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Ford thought Drake did a better job getting senior guard Katie Dinnebier open compared to the first game between the two teams.
“More so just cutting a lot more,” Ford said. “Coming off of pindowns instead of popping out to the three (point line). When her team needs her to take over, she’s going to take over.”
Head Coach Rechelle Turner wasn’t disappointed in how her team finished the game, but rather in how they started.
“It’s our starts,” Turner said. “They’ve been really, really bad. In the last three games, we’ve spotted anywhere from a seven-point lead to a nine-point lead. You cannot give good teams that big of an advantage because it’s difficult to come back from.”
Feb. 15 vs. UNI
Almost a full month since the last time the two teams played, the University of Northern Iowa Panthers came to Murray, Kentucky, to try and get their win back over the Racers.
In one of the more bizarre game days at the CFSB Center, a storm the night before knocked the power out across campus, including the arena, forcing the game to be delayed twice and almost canceled altogether.
Fortunately, the power came back on just after 2 p.m. CST and Head Coach Rechelle Turner left the decision on playing the game for UNI Head Coach Tanya Warren.
“Right when we were getting ready to call the Missouri Valley office, the power came back on,” Turner said. “Tanya and I were standing there together and I said ‘It’s up to you.’ I feel like as the home team, we have to show grace and mercy to them. They threw out 3:30 and she said ‘Let me go ask my staff,’ then she came back and she said 3:30.”
It was a back-and-forth first half for both teams, with Murray State taking a 49-43 lead into the halftime break. Senior forward Ava Learn and graduate forward Katelyn Young picked up right where they left off against Drake. Learn put up a first half double-double, tallying 15 points and 10 rebounds with nine of those points coming from the three-point line. Young finished the half with 14 points and five rebounds on 50% shooting from the field. UNI senior guard Maya McDermott was the only player with double-digit points at halftime for the Panthers.
The Racers lead increased to 11 halfway through the third quarter, but UNI did enough to bring the lead down to six at the end of it. The Panthers showed they were going to fight til the end.
The Panthers made the first three baskets of the fourth quarter to take a one-point lead over Murray State. Several lead changes and ties would occur throughout the final quarter, with neither team able to get a distinct advantage over the other. With 1:30 left in the game, McDermott scored a layup to give UNI a two-point lead on the ninth lead change of the quarter and 12th of the game.
Most teams probably call a timeout after surrendering the lead at this stage, but Turner let her team play on. Young got an open look from the three-point line and took the shot but missed. However, UNI didn’t properly box out when the shot went in the air and sophomore guard Haven Ford was able to corral the long rebound. Ford brought the ball back out to the top of the key and drilled the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:09 remaining in the game.
Murray State scored four more points and held UNI scoreless to seal off a 96-91 win over the Panthers, completing the season sweep.
Young finished the game with 30 points and 10 rebounds, her 12th career game with 30 or more points. Ford scored 23 total points on the game while going a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. After the scorching first half, Learn finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Poock finished with 16 points.
UNI’s McDermott finished the night with a game-high 35 points, along with six rebounds and six assists. Coach Turner gave McDermott her flowers in the post-game press conference.
“We threw everything that we had in our arsenal defensively at Maya McDermott,” Turner said. “She’s that good. The fact that more people don’t recognize how good she is is unbelievable and she’s a great young lady. She had every opportunity to talk smack the entire game because she scored on every one of us but that’s just not who she is.”
With the win over UNI, the Racers move to 16-7 on the season and 10-4 in MVC play. They are two games behind the first-place Missouri State Bears. Murray State’s next game is at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, when the Racers travel to Peoria, Illinois, to play the Bradley Braves.
