Racers Headed to Charleston for Final Road Battle

Saturday, February 19

Charleston, Ill.

4 p.m.

Murray State

Eastern Illinois

Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey was one of two players to tally a double-double in the first meeting with Eastern Illinois (Jan.20).

Photo by: Tab Brockman

2/18/2011 1:14:58 PM | Women's Basketball

Game 27
Murray State (8-18, 4-11 OVC) at Eastern Illinois (15-11, 10-5 OVC)
Location: Charleston, Ill.
Arena: Lantz Arena
Time: 4 p.m.

The Game
The Murray State women's basketball team will be making one final trip for the final regular-season road game. The Racers (8-18, 4-11 OVC) will stop in Charleston, Ill., to face Eastern Illinois, Saturday, Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. in Lantz Arena.

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Scouting Eastern Illinois
The Panthers head into Saturday's game with a six-game winning streak after earning an overtime win over UT Martin (Feb. 17). EIU has a 15-11 overall record, including a 10-5 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Panther's five starters are the key contributors for the team, with all averaging between 16.2 and 8.5 points per outing, four garnering five or more boards per game, three averaging over 40 percent shooting, and two over .390 from beyond the arc. Ta'Kenya Nixon leads the team with 16.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, a .474 shooting mark, 121 assists and 42 steals. Mariah King is adding 13.0 points and 5.1 boards per game, while shooting .464. Chantelle Pressley is hitting her sots at a .424 pace and is the teams leader with a .409 mark from beyond the arc. Sydney Mitchell is also a strong shooter, with a .393 mark from beyond the arc and a .390 mark overall.

As a team, EIU is netting 4.3 more points and 1.5 more boards per game than its opponents. They are shooting the second-best shooting percentage in the OVC, at .413. However, they also allow their opponents to shoot at a .391 pace. The Panthers are also strong at the free-throw line, making more shots than their opponents have even attempts (452-614 to 332-449).

Like MSU, the second half is a more offensive stanza for EIU. The Panthers have tallied 174 more points in the second half, but have also allowed 134 more by their foes.

Against the Panthers
MSU used an across-the-board effort to earn a 71-64 victory over Eastern Illinois at the CFSB Center (Jan. 20). The Racers saw two players record a double-double and a third add a double-digit point total. Sophomore Mariah Robinson led the way with 29 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, with red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey adding 11 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Rachael Isom also had a strong game, recording a season-best 16 points.

MSU had all nine players that earned playing time score at least one point in the game, and just two fail to tally a rebound. The all-around effort helped the team garner a 43.4 shooting percentage, while holding EIU to a 36.5 mark. The Racers also earned a key advantage from beyond the arc, hitting 8-of-22 attempts (36.4%) and holding the Panthers to just 18.2 percent (4-of-22). MSU also out-scored EIU 22-18 in the paint.

The top contributors for the Panthers were Mariah King and Ta'Kenya Nixon. Both tallied 15 points, with King adding seven boards and Nixon getting three.

The Series
The Racers currently own a 23-12 advantage in the all-time series after earning a 71-64 win over the Panthers at the CFSB Center earlier this season. The series is closer when playing in Charleston, with EIU holding a slight 8-7 advantage.

Defensive Special
The Racers had a great defensive performance against Southeast Missouri (Feb. 17) at the Show Me Center. MSU held the Redhawks to just 34 points for the game, the lowest point total for an opponent in a game since Nov. 22, 1976 when the Racers defeated Vanderbilt, 59-32, on the road. MSU also held SEMO to just 22.8 percent shooting, including a 1-21 mark (.048) from beyond the arc.

Kayla Khiming In - Again
Junior Kayla Lowe started out the season by tallying double-digit point totals in seven of the first 10 games, but has only added five more since. One of those occasions was against the Redhawks (Feb. 17), when Lowe went 5-of-9 from the field and 5-of-7 from three-point range to garner 15 points. It was her first 10+ game since Feb. 3 (13 at TSU) and her highest total since Dec. 30 (18 vs. SIUE).

Schwab Adding Spark
Junior Mallory Schwab has been stepping up her output in the past few weeks and earned a starting role back. Schwab had started the first nine games of the year, but did not start again for 14 games. Since returning to the top of the line-up, the Martinsville, Ind., native has added a spark to the team. In the game against Jacksonville State, Schwab tallied a season-best 14 points, shot 62.5 percent from the field, 50 percent from beyond the arc and added three boards and two assists.

Academic Honors Again
Junior Rachael Isom was named to the Capital One Academic All-District IV second team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The honor marks the second-straight season that Isom has been named to the second team. The award also makes it the fourth-straight season that a Racer player has been named to the All-District IV team. Isom carries a 4.00 grade point average in English literature. The Cleveland, Tenn., native leads the team with 51 assists this season while also recording 7.0 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.

To be consider for the Academic All-District teams, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore in eligibility and own a minimum 3.30 grade-point average.

Robinson Raining Three's
Sophomore Mariah Robinson had the game of her career Jan. 13 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.

Double Double-Double Nights
For the second time this season two members of the team garnered double-doubles on the same night. Sophomore Mariah Robinson earned her second of the season, with 25 points and a career-best 14 rebounds against UT Martin. Red-shirt freshman Jessica Winfrey added her sixth of the year, with 11 points and 13 rebounds. This marked the first time since the 2000-01 campaign that MSU had two players with double-doubles in the same game twice in a season.

In the win over Eastern Illinois (Jan. 20), the Racers had two players earn double-doubles for the first time since Dec. 18, 2008 when Ashley N. Hayes (14 pts., 12 reb.) and Amber Guffey (20 pts., 11 reb.) each had one. Robinson earned her first career double-double, with 29 points and 11 rebounds, while Winfrey earned her fourth of the season (11 pts., 10 reb.).

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 9.7 boards per game, is third in scoring (10.2 ppg) and has tallied six double-doubles. 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 21 steals and 10 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 return home to finish the 2010-11 regular season at the CFSB Center. MSU will first face Morehead State (Feb. 24) and then battle with Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 26), both games are scheduled to start at 5:15 p.m.