Racers Set to Host Eastern Illinois in OVC Battle

Thursday, January 20

CFSB Center

5:15 p.m.

Murray State

Eastern Illinois

Kayla Lowe and Tessa Elkins are both key returners from last season's series with Eastern Illinois.

Photo by: Tab Brockman

1/18/2011 2:48:46 PM | Women's Basketball

Game 18
Murray State (5-12, 1-6 OVC) vs. Eastern Illinois (19-8, 5-2 OVC)
Location: Murray, Ky.
Arena: CFSB Center
Time: 5:15 p.m.

The Game
The Murray State women's basketball team returns home for two games at the CFSB Center over the weekend. The Racers will first host Eastern Illinois, Thursday, Jan. 20 at 5:15 p.m. as part of an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader.

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Scouting Eastern Illinois
The Panthers head into Thursday's game with a 9-8 overall record and a 5-2 mark in the league after dropping a close game to Morehead State last Saturday.

EIU has played a short bench this season, averaging only nine players in each game and they played just seven against the Eagles.

All five starters for the Panthers account for the majority of the teams statistics, but they have two main threats in Ta'Kenya Nixon and Mariah King. Nixon leads the team with 15.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, 83 assists, 24 steals and a .453 shooting percentage. King is contributing 12.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, while shooting .440. Sydney Mitchell is the team's leading three-point shooter, making her shots at a .419 mark (13-of-31). The starting line-up consists of strong shooters, with three shooting over .400 and the other two coming in around .380. The group also accounts for a majority of the rebounds, with four starters averaging over five rebounds per game.

As a team, the Panthers are pretty even with their opponents on the season box score, but they are more efficient. EIU has a season field-goal percentage of 39.5 to its opponents 38.8. The efficiency comes in the number of shots taken to reach the averages. The Panthers are 384-of-971, while their opponents are 388-of-1001. The difference can also be seen in three-point shooting, where the team has a bigger advantage. EIU has made 31.9 percent of its 251 attempts, while its opponents have made 100-of-338 attempts (.296).

The Panthers seem to take the first period slower than the second. EIU has tallied just three more points than its opponents in the opening stanza (503-500), but then increases its output and allows its opponents to do so as well in the second. The Panthers have tallied 132 more points in the second, while allowing 107 more by the opposition.

Against the Panthers
Last year EIU earned victories in both meetings, mostly due to stronger rebounding. The Panthers out-rebounded the Racers by an average of 37-52. EIU also took advantage of trips to the charity stripe, making 22-of-35 attempts, while MSU was 11-of-20. The one clear advantage that the Racers had in the series was in shots from three-point range. MSU shot at a .488 mark and made 10 triples per game, while the Panthers shot at a .188 mark and made just three per game.

Rachael Isom, Kayla Lowe and Tessa Elkins are the key returners for MSU. Isom tallied 13.5 points and three rebounds per game, while Lowe added 9.5 points and Elkins chipped in six. Lowe and Elkins also hit 50 percent of their shots in the series, with Lowe adding a .556 three-point mark and Elkins making 66.7 of her triple attempts.

The top returners for EIU are Ta'Kenya Nixon, Chantelle Pressley and Kelsey Wyss. Nixon averaged 8.5 points and seven rebounds, Pressley added 6.5 points and rebounds and Wyss netted 6.0 points and 2.5 boards per game.

The Series
The Racers have a 22-12 advantage in the all-time series, despite losing the last two games. MSU has gone 3-2 in the last five games and 6-4 in the last 10. The Racers also hold a 13-4 lead in the series when played in Murray, Ky.

Robinson Earns OVC Honors
Sophomore Mariah Robinson was named the adidas OVC Player of the Week for Jan. 17 after an outstanding weekend performance. The honor marks the third for the Beaver Dam, Ky., native in her career and the first for a Racer this season.

Robinson had the night of her career against Jacksonville State (Jan. 13), with 44 points, nine three-point shots, eight rebounds and three assists. She followed that performance up with 19 points against TTU and ended the weekend shooting 58.3 percent from the field and 52.4 percent from beyond the arc.

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 Gamecocks. Elkins has played double-digit minutes in MSU's last seven games and has recorded 10-or-more points in five of those outings. She has recorded season-bests in all categories, including a career-high 13 points against Tennessee Tech and four steals and seven free throws against Austin Peay. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native has shot .564 from the field and has added a total of 11 steals and nine assists.

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.

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 8.5 boards per game, and third in scoring (9.6 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
The Racers will host Southeast Missouri in the final game of the first half of OVC competition, Saturday, Jan. 22 at 5:15 p.m. at the CFSB Center. MSU will then travel to SIU Edwardsville for the final non-conference game of the regular season, Jan. 25.