Murray State women’s basketball has an opportunity to pick up two quality wins in Daytona Beach, Florida, over Thanksgiving Break. Before that, they had to defend their home court as the UAB Blazers visited the CFSB Center.
Both teams came into the Nov. 22 matchup with 2-2 records, with multi-team events on their schedules next. A win for either team would put them above .500 and give them a massive confidence boost before their trips.
Murray State took control early, leading 54-32 at halftime. The play of juniors Haven Ford, Sharnecce Currie-Jelks and Keslyn Secrist led the way for the Racers’ first half. Ford finished the half with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. Currie-Jelks totaled 13 points and seven rebounds. Secrist had 11 points and three rebounds.
UAB wouldn’t go down quietly, outscoring Murray State 32-21 in the third quarter. The Blazers shot 63.64% for the quarter to pull within 11 points of the lead going into the final quarter.
Try as they might, UAB wasn’t able to claw any closer. Murray State won the game 91-79 to move to 3-2 on the year.
The trio of Ford, Currie-Jelks and Secrist all finished with double-doubles for Murray State. This is the first time since the Racers played Valparaiso last season that three players have recorded double-doubles in the same game.
Ford finished the game with 24 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out six assists. She led the Racers in those stat categories. Currie-Jelks had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Secrist finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Though the Daytona Beach Classic will give the Racers a nice vacation, Ford understands they can’t just have fun the whole time.
“The trip is going to be fun,” Ford said. “It gets us around our families and we can go relax and enjoy being around each other, but it’s a business trip. We’re going down there with a purpose. We want to go compete and steal some wins.”
The women’s team will play two games in Daytona. The first will be against George Mason on Friday, Nov. 28. The second game is against Boston College on Saturday, Nov. 29.
