Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
East Carolina
Offensive boards a bane for MSU as Lady Racers fall to ECU 71-63
1/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Keeping its opponent from the offensive rebounds played a big part in the Lady Racers' previous two games, and it played a big part in Murray State's 71-63 loss to East Carolina tonight in MSU's Regional Special Events Center.
East Carolina (9-4) grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, or half of its missed shots, while Murray State (4-7) took only eight offensive boards. During one intense volley under the ECU net in the last minute of the first half, East Carolina missed six shots and grabbed five offensive rebounds.
"It was huge," said MSU head coach Joi Williams. "We just did not take care of business. We didn't rebound, and that's something that we will continue to harp on as a staff, and hopefully, it will get better.
"Rebounding is critical to our success on offense in transition and some other things we want to do offensively."
The game remained close in the first half, with Murray State leading most of the way, using a jumpshot by junior guard Rebecca Remington and back-to-back buckets by senior guard Stacy Holmes to change a three-point deficit into a three-point halftime lead, 30-27.
East Carolina opened the second half on a 17-2 run over the first 6-1/2 minutes, taking its largest lead, 44-34, when Courtney Willis hit a layup with 13:28 left in regulation.
A minute later, MSU started a 15-2 run, including scoring 12 unanswered points. That run featured three three-pointers by sophomore guard Jill Fulkerson, who capped the run with a trey that gave Murray State a 49-47 lead with 7:56 left and put in a career-high 11 points on 3-for-3 shooting from behind the arc.
As soon as the Lady Racers' run was completed, the Lady Pirates scored the next seven points to push out to a 54-49 lead. A trey by senior guard Megan Fuqua brought Murray State to within 54-52 with 5:10 left, but MSU could get no closer.
Murray State was led by Fuqua's 16 points. She also had co-team-highs with three assists and two steals. Holmes added 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Fulkerson had 11 points. Holmes and senior guard Jenny Bowden also had three steals, while Bowden and junior guard Brittany Park also had two steals. Freshman forward Angela Mullins swatted a game-high two blocked shots for MSU.
East Carolina was paced by 17 points from Courtney Willis, who also grabbed seven rebounds. Viola Cooper added 15 points, while Jennifer Jackson had 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Keisha Anthony had game-highs with six assists and three steals.
This game marked the end of the non-conference schedule for the Lady Racers, who open their league slate on Thursday at Morehead State.
"The OVC race is still wide open," Williams said. "I wish we could have gotten a couple more wins that we let slip away, but these last two teams we've faced (Western Kentucky and East Carolina) are very good. I hope we've been able to learn a lot from this and that our confidence is up. I don't think that we'll face many teams that are better than these last two."
Murray State tips off at Morehead State on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. CT. That game can be heard on WNBS (1340 AM) and on the Internet through the official Web site for Murray State athletics, www.GoRacers.com.
