Racers Head to Battle with Tennessee Tech

Saturday, January 15

Cookeville, Tenn.

5:30 p.m.

Murray State

Tennessee Tech

Junior Rachael Isom had a strong series last season against TTU, averaging 14 points and three rebounds per game.

Photo by: Tab Brockman

1/14/2011 2:29:02 PM | Women's Basketball

Game 17
Murray State (5-11, 1-5 OVC) vs. Tennessee Tech (11-4, 5-1 OVC)
Location: Cookeville, Tenn.
Arena: Elben Center
Time: 5:30 p.m.

The Game
The Murray State women's basketball team will be looking for another victory, after earning a win at Jacksonville State Thursday. The Racers (5-11, 1-5 OVC) will be facing the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, Saturday, Jan. 15, with a 5:30 p.m. tip-off scheduled at the Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tenn.

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Scouting Tennessee Tech
The Golden Eagles are 11-4 overall and 5-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference. TTU has one its last two games, and the last four at home, including a 74-57 victory over UT Martin Thursday at the Eblen Center.

The Golden Eagles have a spread out offense and defense, but there is one person that stands out on the team. Tacarra Hayes leads the team with 14.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Hayes has also taken over 80 more shots than anyone else on the team, making 38.6 percent (71-of-184). Brittany Darling is next on the season box score, with 8.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game. However, Darling is hitting 54.5 percent (55-of-101) of her shots on the season. The rest of the team is close to Hayes and Darling in scoring and rebounding. Rachel Glidden is the main three-point shooter for TTU, with 76 attempts and 25 made.

The Golden Eagles are a strong second half team, scoring 49 more points and allowing their opponents to tally 10 less in the stanza. TTU is shooting at a .405 mark and allowing its opponents to shoot at a .383 mark. None of the 13 members of the team are shooting below .300 and five of the players are making over 50 percent of their shots.

Against the Golden Eagles
Last year both teams earned victories on their home courts by 10-or-more points, but they ended the series with a close scoring margin. Each team earned an advantage in one shooting area, with TTU hitting 43.3 percent of their shots overall and MSU making 38.1 percent. However, the Racers made 44.4 percent of their triple attempts to just 29.4 percent by the Golden Eagles. TTU also earned a clear advantage in rebounding at 43.5 to 36.0.

The top returners for MSU are Mariah Robinson and Rachael Isom. Robinson averaged 15 points, eight rebounds per game, shot .667 overall, .800 from three-point range and added three blocks and steals. Isom chipped in 14 points and three rebounds per game.

The key returners for the Golden Eagles are Kellie Cook and Tacarra Hayes. Cook netted 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and shot .414 and .385. Hayes added 15.5 point and 5.5 rebounds per game.

The Series
TTU has a clear advantage in the all-time series, which is one of the oldest in the conference. The Golden Eagles lead 55-13 overall and 30-3 when playing in Cookeville, Tenn. However, the Racers have been working hard to change the deficit in the series in the past few years. MSU is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings, including two straight road wins in 2008 and 2009. The Golden Eagles may have earned a win in the last meeting (Feb. 11, 2010), but the Racers had won the six previous outings.

Robinson Raining Three's
Sophomore Mariah Robinson had the game of her career Thursday in Jacksonville, Ala. The Beaver Dam, Ky., native recorded the second-most points in school history (44) and tallied a school-record nine three pointers. The previous record was set by Megan Fuqua and her current coach Ashley B. Hayes (8). Robinson also added a career-best nine free throws and 13 field goals. She was not just a scoring threat for MSU in the game, as she added eight rebounds and three assists.

Elkins Elevating Performance
After playing sparingly in the first few games of the season, sophomore Tessa Elkins has become a key reserve in the lineup and earned her first starting role against the Jaguars. Elkins has played double-digit minutes in MSU's last six games and has recorded 10-or-more points in four of those outings. In the game against TSU, she added a season-best five rebounds and a career-high five field goals made. She then added a career-best seven-made free throws and four steals against APSU. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native has shot .682 from the field and .429 from beyond the arc in the span and has added a total of nine steals and five assists.

Double-Double for Lowe
Junior Kayla Lowe garnered her second double-double of the season, and her career, in the Racers game versus TSU. Lowe earned the double-double in the final minute of the game when she hit a three to get MSU within one point. That shot gave her 12 points to go along with a career-high 10 rebounds.

Racking Up the Rebounds
Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey was ratcheting up her rebounding numbers from Dec. 18-Jan. 4. Winfrey garnered at least 10 rebounds during the four games, making her the first player since Ashley N. Hayes had the same streak in the 2008-09 season. She is also just the fourth MSU player to accomplish the feat since the 1996-97 campaign. Danelle Watts had a series of four games with 10+ boards in the 1998-99 season and Stephanie Minor went six and seven games in-a-row during the 1996-97 campaign.

Putting It All Together
The Racers had a season-best game against the Jaguars, with the largest win of the season. The 29-point win was not the only season-best for MSU. The Racers shot 50.9 percent overall and 47.4 percent from three-point range. The percentage from the field was a season-best, while the mark from beyond the arc was the second-best this year. MSU also out-rebounded IUPUI by 15, the largest margin in 2010-11, and recorded a season-high nine triples.

Career Night Against the Cougars
Several players saw career highs increased in the Racers game against SIU Edwardsville. Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey started the trend by recording 17 rebounds, 10 in the first half. The 17 boards are the most by a Racers player since Nov. 28, 2009 when Mallory Luckett garnered 15 rebounds against Morgan State.

MSU also saw four players record double-digit point totals for the first time in 2010-11 and two of those were career bests. Freshman Mary Jehlik garnered her first double-digit total, with 13 and sophomore Tessa Elkins continued to added to her career number with 12.

Mary Moving In
Freshman Mary Jehlik has earned a starting role in the last five games. The Mount Sterling, Ky., native has tallied career bests in points, rebounding, assists, free throws and shooting percentage since her advancement on the bench. She recorded a career-high eight rebounds against IUPUI, and has increased her scoring best to 14. She also tallied career highs of four assists and free throws against the Jaguars.

Jessica Jumping Right In
Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey has been a stable force for the Racers in her first season on the court. The Marion, Ark., native is first on the team in rebounding, averaging 8.6 boards per game, and third in scoring (9.8 ppg). She has tallied three double-doubles, including her latest versus IUPUI. Her talents on the court have led to her scoring at least one point and adding at least one rebound in every Racers game this season, while also recording 18 steals and six blocks.

No Senior Leadership
After fighting through an injury plagued year in 2009-10 the Murray State women's basketball team will be in a select group of NCAA DI teams this season that will allow them to use the drive and determination they discovered last year, as the roster has no seniors listed. The Racers are one of seven programs in the country with no seniors on the 2010-11 roster.

The youthful roster has just nine years of NCAA collegiate experience on it, which ranks third among OVC teams for the least amount of NCAA collegiate experience. The only teams with fewer years of experience than the Racers are UT Martin (3) and Eastern Illinois (8).

Up Next
MSU returns home next weekend to host Eastern Illinois (Jan. 20) and Southeast Missouri (Jan. 22).