Racers Battle Well At Illinois

Monday, December 22

Champaign, Ill.

7 p.m.

Murray State

4-8

Illinois

9-3

Murray State

Illinois

Photo by: Neal Head

12/22/2014 8:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Murray State women's basketball team fell to Illinois 64-44 Monday Dec. 22 in Champaign, Illinois. MSU is now 8-9 when facing new opponents under head coach Rob Cross. Illinois remains undefeated at the State Farm Center, while the Racers will drop to 0-4 against Big Ten teams.

Both teams struggled to get baskets to drop in the first minutes of the game. Illinois (9-3) made the first basket of the game at the 15:51 mark. After that, the Fighting Illini had no problem getting baskets to drop. The Racers (4-8) struggled against the height of Illinois but was only outrebounded by 9 in the first half. MSU shot 17.2 percent from the field, and took no free throws during the first half. Illinois went into the locker room with a comfortable 30-11 lead.

Murray State knew they had a lot of ground to cover if they wanted to make the most of the second half. MSU made seven points in the first five minutes of the second half off of jumpers by Ke'Shunan James, Olivia Cunningham and a three from Jashae Lee to make up some ground. The Racers continued to make up ground, but were unable to stop the Fighting Illini enough to take control of the game. Murray State continued to fight until the clock ran out of time, and Illinois put another win under their belt.

James led the team with 10 buckets, while Lee added seven. Keiona Kirby and Cunningham added six a piece. Netanya Jackson was only three rebounds short of her career high when she pulled down 12 boards. The Racers shot 27.1 percent from the field, and held Illinois to a 31.1 percent. Murray State was outrebounded by 13, however the Racer bench came on and scored 18 of the 44 points.

MSU will make their way back to the CFSB Center on Tuesday Dec. 30 to take on their last non-conference opponent of the season, Brescia. Tip-off is at 5 p.m.