Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Austin Peay
Racers Fall to Austin Peay in Finale of Four-Game Home Stand
1/8/2011 5:36:56 PM | Women's Basketball
Box Score
The Racers (4-11, 0-5 OVC) were led by a trio of players with double-digit point totals. Junior Kayla Lowe led MSU with 12 points and added six rebounds, while red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey tallied 11 points and eight boards and sophomore Tessa Elkins added 11 points.
The Racers opened the first half with strong offense and defense, holding the Lady Govs scoreless for the first 5:30 and going on a 12-0 run of their own. After the initial shot by APSU, the Lady Govs were again held without a field goal for the next three minutes, but this time they earned three points from the charity stripe and MSU was only able to add two points to its total. When APSU made its next field goal (11:10 left) it sparked a momentum change that resulted in a 21-2 run to give the Lady Govs a 10-point advantage. The Racers were able to cut the deficit for a while, but went into the locker room trailing 35-22.
MSU kicked up the defensive intensity in the second half, holding APSU to just six points in the first five minutes, while also starting to take advantage of shots from the charity stripe. However, the push was not enough and despite earning 18 points with the clock stopped, the Racers lost, 71-55.
MSU struggled to make shots after the opening six minutes of the game and finished with a 26.3 shooting percentage, while the Lady Govs hit a .379 mark. Both teams got 29 attempts at the free-throw line, with the Racers making 21 and APSU netting 22. However, there was a clear difference in the number taken in each half of action. MSU went to the line just eight times, compared to 19 by the Lady Govs in the first 20 minutes and then the numbers were reversed to 21 and 10 in the second half.
The Racers will return to the road for a weekend OVC series at Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech. MSU will first battle with the Gamecocks, Thursday, Jan. 13 at 5:15 p.m. at Pete Matthews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Ala.
